Delhi’s electoral authorities are considering a second round of verification for nearly 47.6 lakh names deleted from the draft electoral roll, after the Election Commission of India extended the deadlines for claims, objections and publication of the final list.
The deleted names were classified under absent, shifted, dead and duplicate categories during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Delhi’s electoral roll. Officials told Millennium Post that the additional verification is being considered to ensure that eligible voters are not inadvertently excluded from the final register.
The draft roll published on August 31 had removed approximately 47.6 lakh electors. The Delhi Chief Electoral Officer’s office had earlier instructed officials to verify the deleted names, and that exercise was described by officials as nearly complete. The extension of the SIR schedule has now prompted consideration of another round of checks.
“The re-verification of voters was nearly completed, but now, since the dates have been extended, we are planning to carry out a second round of the exercise. This will be done to ensure that no eligible elector misses out,” an official said.
The proposed verification could involve all 14,947 booth-level officers deployed across the Capital. Many of these BLOs are government school teachers who have been engaged in the SIR process since June 30. The election office is also likely to organise special camps where voters can seek assistance and submit requests for inclusion in the electoral roll.
Officials said approximately 31 lakh of the 33 lakh cases in which voters received notices over non-mapping with the 2002 electoral roll or logical discrepancies had been resolved. The proposed second round is intended to identify eligible electors who may have been left out and assist voters in completing the formalities required for inclusion.
The Election Commission on Thursday extended the deadline for filing claims and objections from October 31 to November 25. The deadline for disposing of claims and objections has been moved to December 15. Publication of the final electoral roll, earlier scheduled for December 4, has been rescheduled to December 22.
The extension is the fifth revision of Delhi’s SIR schedule. The exercise began on June 30, when the Capital had around 1.45 crore registered voters. The draft roll published on August 31 contained approximately 97.5 lakh names.
The revision is being handled through a field and administrative network comprising 14,947 BLOs, 902 assistant electoral registration officers, 70 electoral registration officers and 13 district electoral officers, along with the office of the Chief Electoral Officer. The extended claims period and the proposed additional verification will determine how many deleted names are restored before the final electoral roll is published on December 22.
