Delhi SIR: window to submit forms closes; 47.7 lakh voters out of draft roll

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A Booth Level Officer with enumeration forms in west Delhi’s Vikas Nagar area last month. | Photo Credit: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR

Close to 67%, or 97.4 lakh, enumeration forms distributed to Delhi’s 1.45 crore electors under the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls have been digitised as of Monday, the last day of the enumeration phase, according to official data. The names of these voters will appear on the draft roll scheduled to be published on August 24.

The remaining 47.7 lakh voters, marked “uncollectable” and placed under the Absent, Shifted, Dead, Duplicate and Others (ASDDO) categories, will not appear in the draft roll.

They face the risk of being excluded from the final electoral roll that is scheduled to be published on October 27.

The SIR deadline was extended twice in July after Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Ashok Kumar sought additional time, citing “slow progress of the enumeration process”.

“By midnight, Booth Level Officers will lose access to the BLO app and will be unable to make changes,” a senior official said.

The official added that the possible deletion of 33% voters was “expected” due to the high migrant population in the Capital.

“We were expecting 20-30% deletion. The majority of the voters whose filled forms were not returned to the BLOs are marked as shifted,” the official said.

A separate list of those in the ASDDO categories is likely to be published. They will be allowed to file claims and objections in the next phase from August 24 to September 23.

Of the voters who have returned the forms, 34% (or over 33 lakh) will have to produce one of the 12 documents listed by the Election Commission to verify their details during the month-long notice period that will follow the claims and objections phase.

These include 13 lakh voters who could not map themselves or their relatives to the previous SIR roll. The figure also includes over 19 lakh voters flagged for ‘anomalies’.

In cases such as a homeless person who might not have these documents, the Electoral Registration Officer is authorised to decide on eligibility, the poll official said.

Though a list of anomalies or discrepancies has not been published by the CEO’s office, a source said election officials have found four kinds of anomalies — multiple children linked to the same parent; an age gap of under 15 years between parent and child; mismatched names between rolls; and differences in surnames.