Delhi SIR: 23,000 of 3.16 million voters clear notices so far

Only around 23,000 of the 3.16 million electors who received notices during Delhi's special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls have so far cleared the discrepancies flagged against their names, officials said, highlighting the scale of the verification exercise under way in the Capital.

The figure represents roughly 0.7% of those who have been issued notices. Hearings are scheduled to continue until October 29, with the final electoral roll due to be published on November 4.

The Election Commission has stressed that receiving a notice does not by itself mean that a voter's name will be removed. The Delhi chief electoral officer's office has said that no elector can be deleted without an opportunity to be heard and a reasoned, appealable order.

Nearly 4.76 million names absent from draft roll

The verification exercise follows the publication of Delhi's draft electoral roll on August 31. The draft contained 9,753,577 electors, compared with around 14.5 million in the June 30 roll, meaning nearly 4.76 million names were not included at the draft stage.

Of the six major metropolitan cities, Delhi's 32.8% reduction in electors at the draft stage was the second lowest.

Among those retained in the draft roll, more than 3.31 million were subsequently identified under two categories: "no mapping" and "logical discrepancies". The latest figure shows that 3,163,930 notices have been generated so far.

The two categories together cover 3,312,919 electors. Officials have attributed the difference between the two figures to thousands of notices that are yet to be generated.

What prompted the notices

The "no mapping" category covers voters whose current details could not be linked to the electoral roll from the previous revision conducted in 2002.

The "logical discrepancies" category relates to inconsistencies between entries in the current records and those in the earlier roll.

Of the 9,753,577 electors in the draft list, 1,379,785 were classified as having no mapping, while 1,933,134 were placed under logical discrepancies.

Name-related inconsistencies form the largest component of the notices. They account for 41% of the notices, with parent-name mismatches making up 24% and mismatches involving the voter's own name accounting for 17%.

Age-related discrepancies constitute another 16%. These include a progeny age gap of less than nine months, a parent age difference of less than 15 years, a parent age difference of more than 50 years and a grandparent age difference of less than 40 years. They account for 6.4%, 5%, 2.5% and 2.3% respectively.

Nearly 140,000 people, or 4.2% of those issued notices, were flagged for having six or more children. Another 182 people were marked because their parents were considered ineligible in the previous SIR.

Voters have until September 30 for claims

Electors served notices can submit replies and supporting documents to their electoral registration officer or assistant electoral registration officer.

Alongside the hearing process, voters are using the statutory forms to seek inclusion, correction or deletion of names.

Between August 31 and September 19, the election authorities received 84,263 Form 6 applications for inclusion of names. The form can be used by new electors as well as people whose names were not included in the draft roll. The deadline for submitting Form 6 is September 30.

Those whose names are ultimately removed after the hearing process can also apply through Form 6.

West Delhi recorded the highest number of accepted Form 6 applications, at 10,584. It was followed by North West Delhi with 8,685, East Delhi with 8,397, South East Delhi with 8,233 and North East Delhi with 7,691. New Delhi had the lowest figure at 1,609.

Authorities also received 29,705 Form 8 applications for shifting addresses or modifying entries, 1,396 Form 7 applications seeking deletions and 1,351 Form 6A applications for inclusion of overseas Indian voters.

Together, the four forms accounted for 116,715 applications after August 31.

An official said people who fail to submit the required forms by September 30 would not be included in the final roll, although their applications could be processed after the final rolls are published.

Special camps planned as hearings continue

The Delhi CEO's office is deploying additional assistant electoral registration officers across assembly constituencies to speed up the disposal of notices, claims and objections.

Special camps will be organised at all polling-station locations on September 27 from 10am to 5pm. Separate camps for homeless people, transgender people and sex workers will be held on September 23 and 24 at night shelters and other locations.

The measures are intended to help electors who need assistance in responding to notices or submitting applications before the relevant deadlines.

Prominent names and political criticism

The SIR process has become a political flashpoint after several prominent figures appeared among those served notices. They include Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta, former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, former deputy prime minister LK Advani, external affairs minister S Jaishankar and election commissioner SS Sandhu.

In one prominent case, Gupta's name was flagged over an age-related discrepancy involving her parents. Her documents were subsequently verified and her eligibility was confirmed, according to the electoral registration officer.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge criticised the SIR exercise, describing it as flawed and alleging that it was being used for "vote theft". His comments came amid a wider political dispute over the scale of deletions and the notices being issued.

Delhi BJP president Harsh Malhotra, meanwhile, instructed party teams and booth-level agents involved in the exercise to assist voters who had received notices. He also asked them to help eligible voters complete Form 6 where required.

Supreme Court examines transparency questions

The process has also prompted legal scrutiny. The Supreme Court is hearing a petition seeking greater transparency over the notices issued to voters.

The petition, filed by activists Anjali Bhardwaj and Amrita Johri through advocate Prashant Bhushan, seeks disclosure of the names of voters who received notices, the reasons for individual notices and the criteria used to classify electors under "logical discrepancies". It also raises questions about the parameters used to identify such cases.

The Delhi CEO has since published booth-wise information detailing the discrepancies associated with electors, including unmapped entries and mismatches involving voters' and parents' names. The disclosure came shortly before the Supreme Court hearing.

With hearings continuing for more than a month, the immediate focus remains on how many of the 3.16 million notices are resolved before October 29 and how the verification process affects the final electoral roll scheduled for November 4.