The Delhi Chief Electoral Officer released a draft electoral roll that excludes 47.7 lakh electors [1].
This mass exclusion occurs during a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) intended to clean the voter lists. If eligible citizens fail to file claims by the deadline, they may be unable to vote in upcoming elections.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) placed the excluded individuals into ASDDO categories. These categories identify voters who are absent, shifted, dead, duplicate, or others [2]. The draft roll currently includes approximately 97.5 lakh electors [1].
According to official data, the total number of registered voters in Delhi is 1,45,10,299 [3]. To facilitate the revision, enumeration forms were distributed to 99.55% of those 1.45 crore electors [4].
Individuals who find their names missing from the list can file claims and objections. The window for these filings opened on Aug. 31, 2024, and will remain open until Sept. 30, 2024 [5]. Affected citizens must use Form 6 to submit their requests for inclusion or correction [2].
The ECI said the process is part of a broader effort to ensure the accuracy of the electoral rolls. By removing duplicate entries and deceased persons, the commission aims to reduce irregularities during the polling process [2].
“The draft electoral roll for Delhi excludes 47.7 lakh electors.”
The removal of nearly 4.8 million names represents a significant scrubbing of the Delhi voter base. While the ASDDO categorization is a standard administrative tool for maintaining roll integrity, the scale of these exclusions necessitates a high rate of public engagement with Form 6 to prevent legitimate voters from being disenfranchised.
