India
Delhi begins reverifying 47.56 lakh voters removed from draft roll
The review tests whether eligible voters can retain their voting rights
The review tests whether eligible voters can retain their voting rights
Delhi is rechecking 47.56 lakh names missing from its . Nearly one-third of the earlier 1.45 crore voters were marked as absent, moved away, dead or duplicated. Published on August 31, the draft includes about 97.53 lakh voters. are visiting homes and reviewing about 33.12 lakh cases. Officials aim to finish by October 30. The large number of removals has raised concerns that living, eligible voters may have been wrongly excluded. People missing from the draft can file and to seek inclusion or have their names restored. Political parties and officials can challenge doubtful entries. The is due on December 4. It will show whether the review removed duplicate or outdated records without preventing eligible people from voting.
Delhi's is scheduled for publication on . Before then, claims, objections, notices, field reverification and Form 6 applications are to be considered, with eligible names restored where the evidence supports inclusion. The final list will show whether the safeguards prevented wrongful exclusion while removing .
About voters involved in were expected to have their cases resolved by October 30. The notice process required officials to examine , while the broader reverification continued for voters removed from the draft roll. Officials said the review was intended to prevent genuine voters from being omitted.
Delhi began reverifying all voters excluded from the draft roll. Booth-level officers were directed to visit households, locate eligible residents and assist with Form 6 applications where inclusion was justified. Officials also said applications should not be for minor errors in voter details.
The Election Commission directed states and Union territories to conduct special drives for people left out of . were told to compare current and , identify missing former electors and help eligible people apply for inclusion. The direction reinforced the safeguard that draft exclusions must not become automatic permanent deletions.
Political parties raised concerns about the availability of addresses and other details for voters placed on the . The Delhi Chief Electoral Officer's office said party could approach the relevant to record those details. The exchange highlighted the need for and independent checking of exclusions.
Voters missing from the draft roll were allowed to file during the correction period. Eligible residents could seek inclusion or restoration by submitting , while election officials and other authorised parties could raise objections. The process was designed to correct errors before the .
Delhi published its draft s after the . The draft listed about 97.53 lakh voters, while 47,56,722 names were excluded from an earlier electorate of roughly 1.45 crore. The excluded names were placed in the , absent, shifted, dead and duplicate.
The door-to-door enumeration phase ended after booth-level officers collected and from 97,53,577 voters. Officers also compiled cases where voters could not be traced or were believed to have moved, died or had duplicate registrations. Those classifications became the basis for preparing the draft roll.
Election records identified excluded voters as absent or untraceable, permanently shifted, dead or duplicate. The largest group was classified as permanently shifted, followed by voters marked absent or untraceable. Officials said these were , leaving a for eligible voters who were wrongly left out.
Delhi election officials began a house-to-house across the capital's 70 . collected voter information and checked whether registered electors were present, had shifted, had died or appeared more than once. The exercise was intended to update the roll before publication of a revised draft.