Delhi's homeless voters at risk of being struck off electoral roll due to document woes

With over 97 per cent of Delhi’s voters having received enumeration forms during the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Booth Level Officers (BLOs) report that homeless voters are the most challenging to verify. Many lack the necessary documents, family records, and fixed addresses required for the exercise, leaving them concerned that their names could be removed from the electoral roll.

The month-long door-to-door enumeration drive had distributed forms to approximately 1.40 crore voters—about 97 per cent of Delhi’s electorate. However, only 14.03 lakh forms had been digitised as of Monday. The electoral roll, which was frozen on June 16 before the exercise began, contained around 1.45 crore voters. The enumeration drive will end on July 29, followed by the publication of draft rolls on August 5, and the final roll on October 7.

BLOs working in areas with significant homeless populations said they have made repeated visits to locate registered voters. However, because the addresses on identity cards are often vague—sometimes only a pillar number or a locality name—it becomes difficult to find them. Some BLOs said they have marked voters as “shifted” after failing to trace them.

According to an Election Commission official, Delhi has 10,448 homeless voters on its electoral roll. Under Election Commission rules, a person who regularly sleeps at a location can be enrolled in the electoral roll for that area. Many of these voters are migrants, have little formal education, and possess only basic identity documents such as Aadhaar and voter ID cards, said the BLOs.

A BLO posted in New Delhi said homeless voters in the area have only these two documents and are unable to provide previous SIR records or details about their parents. “Many elderly people cannot recall their own or their parents’ details. Some of them left home years ago and are no longer in touch with their families. How can they arrange documents now? With only a district or village name, it is very difficult to search the records and identify their relatives,” the BLO said.

Another BLO from central Delhi said a lack of awareness is central to the problem. “For many poor and homeless people, identity cards are mainly used to access government schemes. They do not fully understand this exercise or the documents being asked for,” he said. “We are also working under deadlines and cannot spend hours tracing one person. Many keep changing locations because of eviction drives. I have filled as many forms as I could, but several people had no birth certificate, school certificate or details from the previous revision. For now, I have marked many as ‘shifted’.”

Some BLOs said they plan to make another round of late-night visits over the next few days, when homeless residents are more likely to be found at their sleeping locations.

Iqbal Khan, 30, whose voter ID card and SIR enumeration form list his address as “Homeless, Institutional Area, Lodhi Road, Delhi”, said he has been living on the footpath with his wife and children for more than a decade. He showed copies of the enumeration form he filled as well as that of his wife, Bibi Halima Khatun. While the forms carried their photographs and signatures, the section seeking details from the previous SIR had been left blank and slashed.

“A madam came, took our photographs, checked our identity cards, filled the form, gave us a copy and left with one,” Mr. Khan said. He said the BLO had also asked for details of his parents’ voter identity cards, which he could not provide. “I was born in Old Delhi and even have a birth certificate. My family still lives there, but I have not spoken to them for over 10 years,” he said, adding that he had cut off ties with his family to marry and live with Ms. Khatun.

Ms. Khatun said she did not initially understand why the form was being filled. “I asked whether a new identity card was being made and why my photograph was being taken,” she said. The couple now worry that their names might be deleted from the electoral roll, potentially disenfranchising them in future elections.