Delhi Voter Roll Revision Starts: Displaced by Demolitions to Get Special Attention
New Delhi: The special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Delhi began on June 30, with the Election Commission of India (EC) promising measures to ensure that voters whose homes were recently demolished are not excluded from the rolls.
Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Ashok Kumar stated that the commission will work out a mechanism to address concerns about electors whose registered addresses no longer exist due to demolition. “Since their houses may have been demolished by the time of the Booth Level Officer (BLO)’s visit, and they might not be able to obtain alternative residence proof during the SIR, we will ensure their inclusion,” he said.
The month-long exercise, from June 30 to July 29, involves BLOs—including teachers, anganwadi workers, and other government staff—visiting every household to distribute pre-printed enumeration forms. Delhi has 13,033 polling booths covering 1,45,10,298 voters. Each elector will receive two copies of the form at their registered address.
“Electors will fill the form and submit one copy to the BLO, who will issue an acknowledgement receipt. BLOs will assist voters if needed. If a voter is unavailable, the form will be given to an adult family member or left at the residence,” Kumar explained.
The draft electoral roll will be published on August 5, after which claims and objections can be filed until September 4. These will be disposed of by October 3, and the final roll published on October 7.
Regarding homeless voters, Kumar said BLOs will visit every registered address, even temporary locations like “a pillar under a flyover.” If not found, they can file claims after the draft list is published.
Despite the monsoon season, Kumar affirmed that the one-month period is adequate for the exercise.
As part of the SIR, electors must map their details with the previous electoral roll from Delhi’s 2002 exercise or any state’s last SIR roll. If unable to map, they can link themselves to parents or grandparents in those rolls. About 42% of electors were pre-mapped. Electors can check names via the ECINET app or website.
If mapping fails, they must submit one of 12 approved documents after receiving a notice from the Electoral Registration Officer post-August 5.
The Delhi electoral roll was frozen on June 16, with 2.48 lakh new voters added since January. National parties have appointed 32,429 booth-level agents for the revision.
