Verification of electors who received notices during Delhi's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll has gathered pace, with authorities setting daily targets for Booth Level Officers (BLOs) to clear the large number of pending cases before the final roll is published on December 4.
As many as 14,947 BLOs have been instructed to verify at least 10 electors every day, translating into checks of nearly 150,000 electors daily. BLOs are visiting electors at their residences and helping them provide the documents and information required to establish their eligibility.
Officials in the Delhi Chief Electoral Officer's (CEO) office said the targets were introduced after verification initially progressed at a slower rate than expected. The move has since contributed to a significant increase in the number of cases being cleared.
More than 1.3 million of the nearly 3.3 million electors who were issued notices under the SIR exercise have now been verified.
Authorities set November 25 target for verification
The notices were sent to electors whose details were flagged under categories including “No Mapping” and “Logical Discrepancies”. The verification is intended to establish whether these electors meet the eligibility requirements before the final electoral roll is published.
An official aware of the process said targets had also been assigned to Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs), with November 25 set as the deadline for completing the verification of electors.
The authorities have said the disposal of all notices, claims and objections will be completed by November 30, in accordance with the SIR schedule.
Officials said the targets were intended to maintain a consistent pace of verification and ensure that the large number of pending cases are addressed within the stipulated timeframe.
The CEO's office has repeatedly clarified that receiving an SIR notice does not automatically mean that an elector's name will be deleted from the final electoral roll. Those who receive notices can respond and provide evidence to establish their eligibility.
Special camps have also been organised, while the number of AEROs has been increased to facilitate the process.
Nearly 280,000 forms received since August 3
The claims and objections window will remain open until October 30. Electors can submit applications offline to AEROs or BLOs, as well as online through the Election Commission of India's voter services portal and the ECINET app.
Electoral authorities have received 278,383 forms since the process began on August 3. Of these, 198,731 applications sought inclusion in the electoral roll, while 5,643 related to corrections or shifting of addresses.
Alongside the verification of electors who received notices, authorities are conducting a special drive to identify eligible voters who were left out of the draft electoral roll.
Under instructions issued by the ECI on October 1, BLOs are visiting households to identify eligible voters and assist them with enrolment. Special camps will also be held at all polling stations in Delhi on October 9 and 11.
The authorities have separately been reaching out to younger voters. Special enrolment camps were held at colleges and universities on Wednesday to encourage students to register. The camps will continue on October 8, with BLOs helping students fill in forms and answer queries related to the SIR.
ECI faces scrutiny over voter deletions
The accelerated verification comes amid continuing scrutiny of the SIR process and voter deletions by the Election Commission.
The Indian Express reported last month that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded objections to decisions taken in the ECI's name on at least 14 occasions over a 10-month period.
The reported disagreements covered several issues, including changes to Form 6, which is used for inclusion in the electoral roll, the centralisation of controls in Delhi, appeals against voter deletions in West Bengal, and the failure to add eligible voters in Goa.
Against this backdrop, Delhi's electoral authorities are seeking to complete the verification exercise within the prescribed schedule, while emphasising that electors served notices have an opportunity to establish their eligibility before the final roll is prepared.