Delhi SIR has processed only 1,238 of the 4.5 lakh Form 6 applications seeking inclusion in the electoral roll, leaving 99.73% of applications pending as the deadline for claims and objections approaches. The figures, covering 42 days of the ongoing revision, were reported from weekly constituency-wise disposal data accessed by The Hindu.
The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) follows the publication of Delhi’s draft electoral roll on August 31. Citizens whose names were missing, including those seeking re-inclusion or applying for the first time, have been asked to submit Form 6 during the claims and objections period. Of the 4.5 lakh applications received, around 2.39 lakh were filed after the draft roll was published, according to the Delhi Chief Electoral Officer’s daily bulletin up to October 18.
The remaining 2.12 lakh applications were submitted between June and August, before publication of the draft roll. The applications include requests from voters removed during the revision as well as new enrolment applications. The final electoral roll is scheduled to be published on December 4.
The data shows that no Form 6 application had been disposed of in 15 of Delhi’s 70 Assembly constituencies during the period covered by the report. Burari, where 1.67 lakh names were deleted from the draft roll, recorded the highest number of deletions in absolute terms. In the north district, more than 36,000 applications had been received, but only 27 had been disposed of.
The Delhi Chief Electoral Officer issued fresh directions last week asking Electoral Registration Officers to reverify the 47.5 lakh names removed from the draft roll under the categories of absent, shifted, dead and duplicate. The re-verification is to be conducted through door-to-door visits by booth-level officers. Officials attributed the delay in processing Form 6 applications to booth-level officers being engaged in disposing of notice cases.
The disposal of Form 7 applications, which relate to objections to the inclusion of names or requests to delete existing names, was substantially higher. More than 5,800 Form 7 applications were disposed of during the same period—about five times the number of Form 6 applications processed. Both categories require field verification, while Form 7 cases also involve a 15-day notice period.
The delay has raised concerns among applicants that a rejection after the October 30 deadline for filing inclusion applications could leave them without sufficient time to correct errors and submit a fresh application. Citizens whose applications have remained pending for more than a month said they were uncertain whether submitting another form would create a duplicate application.
In Okhla, Shagufta, 35, told The Hindu that she had submitted online Form 6 applications twice for herself and her 19-year-old daughter, but both were rejected. She said no booth-level officer contacted them and that the contact number provided was unreachable. Another applicant, Aman Singh, said his application had been pending since September 18, despite a booth-level officer being assigned two days later.
Applicants who were left out of the draft roll must submit Form 6 along with a new declaration containing details of the previous revision. The claims and objections period ends on October 30, while the Election Commission’s deadline for disposing of all claims and objections is November 30.
