The Election Commission on Tuesday revised the schedule for the ongoing special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Delhi and Maharashtra.

Under the revised schedule, the house-to-house verification exercise by Booth Level Officers will now continue till August 17, The Indian Express reported. Earlier, it was scheduled to end on Saturday.

The draft electoral roll will now be published on August 24, while the final list will be released on October 27.

This is the second extension within a month by the poll panel for the exercise in Maharashtra and Delhi.

Earlier, the deadline for the house-to-house verification, which began on June 30, was extended by 10 days, from July 29 to August 8.

In Maharashtra, the extension was granted for the first time after the chief electoral officer sought additional time, citing heavy rainfall in the state.

Under the revised schedule announced on Tuesday, the claims and objections window will be open from August 24 to September 23, instead of the earlier dates of August 17 to September 16.

As per the revised timeline, poll officials will dispose of the claims and objections between August 24 and October 22.

Maharashtra and Delhi are among the 16 states where the voter roll revision is underway in the third phase of SIR.

On Friday, the Election Commission had extended the enumeration deadline for the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Telangana by a week to August 10. Earlier, the deadline for enumeration was August 3.

Since it began, concerns have been raised that the revision process could eliminate genuine voters from the rolls and even shape electoral outcomes, as Scroll has reported.

In May, the Supreme Court upheld the legality of the revision, but clarified that the exercise does not mean that the Election Commission can decide whether an individual is an Indian citizen.

Edited by Neerad Pandharipande.

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