Nearly one-third of Delhi voters likely to be deleted in draft SIR rolls

NEW DELHI, Aug 18: Nearly 67 per cent of the enumeration forms distributed to Delhi’s 1.45 crore electors under the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) have been digitised by Monday, when the door-to-door enumeration exercise concluded in the national capital.

This means more than 45 lakh electors could potentially be left out of the draft electoral roll.

As many as 97,20,289 (97.20 lakh) enumeration forms, accounting for 66.99 per cent of Delhi’s 1,45,10,299 electors, have been digitised by Monday, according to the latest status report issued by the office of the Delhi Chief Electoral Officer.  

The remaining 47.62 lakh electors will be classified as ‘uncollectible’, a category covering those who were unavailable, may have shifted or died, duplicate entries, and other reasons.

Electors marked as absent or shifted will be required to submit applications during the claims and objections period to have their names included in the final electoral roll, which is scheduled to be published on October 27.  

The door-to-door enumeration and digitisation drive, which commenced on June 30, concluded on Monday, August 17.

During the enumeration process, Booth-level Officers (BLOs) visited households, distributed enumeration forms, assisted electors in completing them, and subsequently uploaded the information on the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) official portal.

District-wise, Outer North recorded the highest digitisation rate at 75.66 per cent, with nearly 6.30 lakh enumeration forms digitised, according to the poll panel. It was followed by West with 73.17 per cent (10.65 lakh forms) and South West with 73.03 per cent (9.71 lakh forms).

North West recorded a digitisation rate of 70.83 per cent, covering 9.04 lakh forms, while North East stood at 70.79 per cent, with 13.24 lakh forms digitised. Central North recorded 68.74 per cent digitisation, followed by Old Delhi at 66.50 per cent.

New Delhi recorded a digitisation rate of 60.68 per cent, while South stood at 61.05 per cent. South East reported the lowest rate at 55.94 per cent, with 8.71 lakh enumeration forms digitised.

The latest figures come as the Chief Electoral Officer’s office estimates that around 33 per cent of Delhi’s electorate could fall under the absent, shifted, dead and duplicate (ASDD) categories and, therefore, may not be included in the draft electoral roll.�"Z NEWS