Mumbai, Nov. 14 -- Cautious amid protests by opposition parties over alleged irregularities in voter lists, the State Election Commission (SEC) has extended the timeline for publishing the draft electoral rolls for municipal corporations by a week. The move is likely to push back the municipal election schedule across major cities, including Mumbai and Thane, by at least seven days. Civic elections in these cities were earlier expected to be held between January 15 and 20. The SEC has postponed the publication of the ward-wise final voter lists to December 5, from the earlier deadline of November 28. Similarly, the period for filing suggestions and objections has been extended from November 14 to November 28, according to a statement issued by the SEC on Thursday. "The corporations, including the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), could not complete a thorough verification of the voters' list after the recent ward boundary changes," said an official from the urban development department. "Since political parties are more alert this time, we don't want to take any chances with errors in the lists. Redevelopment projects and new infrastructure have caused significant shifts in voter locations, moving electors to adjoining wards. Hence, corporations, particularly Mumbai and Thane, have been instructed to verify the lists cautiously," the official added. Local bodies have also been directed to carry out verification drives to ensure duplicate voter names are flagged....