New Delhi: The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the national capital has entered a crucial stage, with around 11.9 lakh electors marked for exclusion from the draft voters’ list as of Monday afternoon. According to senior election officials, the figure represents approximately 8.2% of Delhi’s electorate, which stood at over 1.45 crore registered voters before the revision exercise began.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) is currently carrying out the revision through an extensive door-to-door verification campaign involving more than 13,000 Booth Level Officers (BLOs). The exercise aims to update electoral rolls by collecting fresh enumeration forms from voters, marking the first such intensive revision in Delhi since 2002.
Officials said the names identified for exclusion include electors who are deceased, have permanently shifted residence, were unavailable during field verification, or have duplicate entries in the electoral rolls. Another category also covers individuals who have declined to sign or submit their enumeration forms during the verification process.
Recognising the scale of the exercise, the Election Commission had earlier extended deadlines for multiple stages of the revision to provide BLOs additional time to complete verification. The present phase, during which officials are distributing and collecting enumeration forms, is scheduled to conclude on August 8.
District-wise data indicates significant variation in the number of exclusions. South district has reported the highest number of voters marked for deletion, with nearly 1.53 lakh names identified, followed by South East district, where approximately 1.18 lakh electors have been listed for exclusion.
Official figures released by the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Delhi, show that by 8 pm Monday, around 99.8% of enumeration forms had been distributed across the capital. However, only 50.07% of the forms had been returned and digitised, highlighting the considerable work still remaining before the publication of the draft electoral roll.
Among the districts, South East recorded the lowest digitisation rate at 36.39%, followed by East district at 41.60% and South district at 43.07%. In contrast, Outer North emerged as the best-performing district, having digitised 62.82% of the collected forms, while Southwest district followed with 60.42%.
Election officials attribute the high number of exclusions partly to Delhi’s highly mobile population. According to an official associated with the CEO’s office, the capital has a substantial number of migrant labourers, government employees and private-sector professionals who frequently relocate without updating their addresses in electoral records. The official suggested that the eventual number of deletions could exceed 30%, citing neighbouring Gurgaon, where a similar enumeration exercise reportedly resulted in around 29% of electors being excluded, the highest proportion recorded in Haryana.
Officials have also pointed to another challenge: many voters are reluctant to fill out the enumeration forms independently. According to one election official, even educated electors are requesting BLOs to complete the forms on their behalf, slowing the overall process.
To ensure timely completion of the revision, authorities said regular review meetings are being held across all districts. Additional BLOs have been deployed where necessary, while special camps are being organised to assist voters in completing the required documentation.
Meanwhile, the exercise has sparked political debate. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has questioned the Election Commission’s claims regarding the progress of form distribution. Delhi AAP chief Saurabh Bharadwaj alleged that the government’s assertion that nearly all forms had been distributed does not reflect the ground reality. He claimed that many residents, particularly those living in unauthorised colonies, had yet to receive their enumeration forms.
As per the Election Commission’s schedule, the draft electoral roll for Delhi will be published on August 17. Citizens will be able to submit claims and objections until September 16, after which authorities will examine and dispose of all representations by October 15. The final electoral roll is scheduled for publication on October 19, completing one of the capital’s most extensive electoral verification exercises in recent years.
