Nearly 4.7 million names removed from Delhi's draft electoral roll during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) may undergo another round of verification after the Election Commission of India (ECI) extended the deadlines for the exercise. Booth-level officers (BLOs) are likely to revisit households to ensure that eligible voters are not excluded from the final electoral roll, officials aware of the matter said on Friday.
The proposed exercise will be the second round of re-verification following the publication of the draft roll on August 31, which triggered concerns over the large-scale deletion of names.
BLOs may revisit households, special camps likely
The Delhi Chief Electoral Officer's (CEO) office had directed officials earlier this month to verify the deleted entries. Although the exercise is nearly complete, the extended schedule has prompted officials to consider another round.
“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 aware of the matter said.
As part of the exercise, 14,947 BLOs, many of them government school teachers engaged in the SIR process since June 30, may have to visit households again. The election office is also likely to organise special camps to allow voters another opportunity to get their names included in the electoral roll.
Officials said around 3.1 million of the 3.3 million cases in which notices were issued over non-mapping with the 2002 electoral roll or logical discrepancies have been resolved.
ECI extends SIR deadlines in Delhi
In a late-evening announcement on Thursday, the ECI extended the deadline for filing claims and objections from October 31 to November 25. The deadline for disposing of claims and objections has been pushed to December 15.
The final electoral roll will now be published on December 22, instead of the earlier scheduled date of December 4. This marks the fifth extension of the SIR schedule in Delhi.
Nearly 4.76 million names removed from draft roll
The revision exercise began in Delhi on June 30, when the electoral roll had around 14.5 million voters. The draft list published on August 31 contained 9.75 million names.
Nearly 4.76 million entries were removed under the absent, shifted, dead and duplicate categories.
Delhi has 14,947 BLOs, 902 assistant electoral registration officers, 70 electoral registration officers and 13 district electoral officers, along with the CEO's office, handling voter-related concerns during the exercise.