New Delhi: Nearly one in every three names on Delhi’s electoral rolls could be excluded from the draft electoral roll scheduled to be published on August
24, following the completion of the enumeration phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). According to data from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), enumeration forms for 97.47 lakh electors had been collected and uploaded on the official portal by 8 pm on Monday, the final day of the enumeration exercise. Delhi had around 1.45 crore registered electors when the SIR process began. With forms for nearly 47.62 lakh electors not collected or uploaded, these names are expected to be categorised as “uncollectible”. The category includes electors who could not be contacted, may have shifted residence, may have died, have duplicate entries or fall under other unspecified reasons.
Delhi Set For Highest Draft-Stage Deletions
If the current figures remain unchanged, around 33% of names could be left out of Delhi’s draft electoral roll. This would make the national capital’s draft-stage deletion rate the highest among states and Union Territories where SIR draft rolls have been published so far.
Telangana recorded a deletion rate of 21.59%, followed by Arunachal Pradesh at 19.09% and Uttar Pradesh at 18.7%.
Officials have, however, pointed to the nature of large urban centres, where high population mobility can result in a significant number of voters becoming difficult to trace during door-to-door verification.
Similar trends have been seen in other major urban areas. In Gurugram, around 29% of electors were excluded at the draft stage. Hyderabad district reported 40.99% uncollectible forms, while Pune district recorded 27.76%.
Final Number Of Deletions Not Yet Known
The figures in the draft roll will not represent the final number of deletions. After the draft electoral roll is published on August 24, voters, political parties and their Booth Level Agents will be able to identify errors and submit claims and objections.
Claims and objections can be filed until September 23. The process of examining and disposing of these claims is scheduled to continue until October 22.
Electors whose forms contain incomplete or inadequate information may also receive notices seeking documents to establish their eligibility. Those found eligible can be retained or added back to the electoral roll.
The Election Commission has also said that genuine voters whose names are missing from the draft roll can seek inclusion during the claims-and-objections period.
The final electoral roll for Delhi is scheduled to be published on October 27. Only then will the actual extent of deletions from the existing electoral roll become clear.
Enumeration Deadline Extended Twice
The enumeration exercise in Delhi was originally scheduled to run from June 30 to July 29. The deadline was subsequently extended first to August 8 and then to August 17, amid delays in the digitisation and uploading of enumeration forms.
With the enumeration phase now complete, attention will shift to the publication of the draft rolls and the subsequent verification and claims process.
