Delhi To Begin Door-To-Door Voter Verification Drive From June 30 With 13,000 Officers
The Delhi election office will launch a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls on June 30, deploying more than 13,000 Booth Level Officers (BLOs) to conduct house-to-house voter verification across the national capital. Speaking at a press conference at his office in Kashmere Gate, Delhi Chief Electoral Officer Ashok Kumar announced that the month-long exercise will run until July 29. A key focus of the drive will be ensuring that residents displaced by recent demolition drives do not lose their voting rights.
According to the schedule announced by Kumar, the draft electoral roll will be published on August 5. Following the publication, residents can file claims and objections until September 4. The disposal of these claims and objections will continue until October 3, leading to the publication of the final electoral roll on October 7. Election officials stated that the entire exercise is aimed at ensuring that the electoral rolls remain accurate and up to date ahead of future elections.
During the drive, the 13,000 deployed BLOs will visit every household to verify the details of existing voters, identify eligible new voters, and assist with corrections. The officers will distribute pre-printed enumeration forms in duplicate to existing electors and assist them in filling them out.
If a voter is unavailable during the visit, the form will be handed over to an adult family member or left at the residence if it is locked. Officials said BLOs will make at least three visits to collect the filled forms. One copy of the submitted form will be retained by the BLO, while the other copy, carrying an acknowledgment of receipt, will remain with the elector.
Addressing concerns over residents recently displaced due to demolition drives, Kumar stated that his office will chalk out a plan with the Election Commission of India (ECI) to resolve the issue. He acknowledged that the matter has emerged ahead of the exercise and assured that a suitable mechanism will be worked out to ensure eligible electors are not deprived of their voting rights.
Currently, Delhi has 1,45,10,298 registered electors. This voter base includes 67,98,142 women and 1,024 third-gender voters.
