47.56 Lakh Voters Removed from Delhi Draft Electoral Roll
The names of 47.56 lakh voters, representing 32.78 percent of Delhi's electorate, were removed from the draft electoral roll published on Monday following the 49-day enumeration phase of the special intensive revision drive. The North East district, comprising the assembly constituencies of Karawal Nagar, Mustafabad, Gokalpur, and Babarpur, is set to see the highest scrutiny, with 3 lakh voters slated to receive notices.
According to election officials, the deletions were carried out based on enumeration forms that were not returned during the drive. Out of the 97.53 lakh electors remaining on the draft roll, over 33 lakh will be issued notices because their forms could not be mapped to previous revision exercises or were flagged for specific anomalies. These issues include multiple children linked to the same parent, an age gap of under 15 years between parent and child, mismatched names across rolls, and discrepancies in surnames.
Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will deliver the notices door-to-door, providing electors seven days from the date of issuance to respond or request an extension. Officials noted that physical attendance at hearings is not mandatory, as the notices will feature a QR code allowing voters to upload verification documents online or hand them over to their BLO. Hearings will be handled by Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and Assistant Electoral Registration Officers.
If an individual fails to respond, cannot provide any of the 11 prescribed verification documents, or if their eligibility remains unverified, the ERO will issue a formal removal order detailing the reasons. Excluded individuals can appeal first to the District Election Officer and subsequently to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO). The CEO's office stated that people excluded from the draft roll can apply for re-inclusion as new voters using Form 6 alongside a declaration and supporting documents until September 30.
The large-scale deletions have triggered political debate across the capital. Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal took aim at the Election Commission regarding the missing names. Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party chief Harsh Malhotra countered that Kejriwal should present specific cases of eligible voters being left out directly to the commission. Meanwhile, the Congress party's Delhi unit claimed that CEO Ashok Kumar's office has withheld data concerning unmapped, shifted, deceased, absent, and duplicate electors.
