The verification of electors who received notices as part of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll has been stepped up in Delhi, with 14,947 Booth Level Officers (BLOs) directed to verify at least 10 daily for speedy disposal of cases ahead of the publication of the final list on December 4.
The daily target translates into verification of nearly 150,000 electors. BLOs are required to visit electors at their residences and assist them in furnishing the required documents and information.
Officials in the Delhi Chief Electoral Officer (CEO)’s office said the move was necessitated by the initially low pace of verification. They added it has helped significantly increase the number of electors being cleared. Over 1.3 million of the nearly 3.3 million electors issued notices under the SIR exercise have now been verified.
Officials said the disposal of all notices, claims and objections will be completed by November 30, as per the schedule.
The notices were issued to electors whose details were flagged under categories such as “No Mapping” and “Logical Discrepancies”. The exercise is aimed at establishing the eligibility of such electors before the final electoral roll is published.
Officials said the daily verification target was introduced to ensure that the process progresses at a steady pace and that the large number of pending cases are addressed within the stipulated timeline.
“Targets have also been given to Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs). We have set a target of November 25 for completing the process of verifying electors,” said an official aware of the matter.
The CEO’s office has repeatedly clarified that issuance of a notice does not automatically mean an elector’s name will be deleted from the final roll. Electors who have received notices have an opportunity to respond and establish their eligibility.
Authorities have been organising special camps and have increased the number of AEROs.
The claims and objections period will remain open until October 30. Applications can be submitted offline to AEROs or BLOs, or online through the Election Commission of India (ECI)’s voter services portal and the ECINET app.
The latest figures indicate a sharp acceleration in the verification process, with officials attributing the improvement partly to the daily targets assigned to BLOs.
A special drive is being conducted to identify eligible voters left out of the draft electoral roll. As per the ECI’s October 1 instructions, BLOs are visiting homes to identify eligible voters and help them enrol. Special camps will also be held at all polling stations in Delhi on October 9 and 1.
Special camps were held at colleges and universities on Wednesday to encourage young voters to enrol. The camps will continue on October 8. BLOs will help students fill forms and address SIR-related queries.
Electoral authorities have received 278,383 forms since the claims and objections process began on August 3. Of these, 198,731 were for inclusion, 5,643 for corrections, or related to shifting of addresses.
The ECI has been under scrutiny over voter deletions as part of the SIR. The Indian Express last month reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi recorded objections to decisions taken in the ECI’s name at least 14 times over 10 months.
The reported disagreements involved changes to Form 6 for inclusions in the electoral roll, the centralisation of controls in Delhi, voter deletion appeals in West Bengal, and the failure to add eligible voters in Goa.
