Delhi SIR: Over 1 lakh of 4.56 lakh Form 6 applications disposed of

More than 1 lakh of the 4.56 lakh Form 6 applications seeking inclusion in Delhi’s electoral rolls have been disposed of since August 31, when the draft rolls were published, as the exercise to verify and update voter lists under SIR is nearing its final phase, according to officials.

A total of 4,56,913 Form 6 applications were received till October 20, including 2,12,400 by August 30 and another 2,44,513 between August 31 and October 20, officials said.

Form 6 is used by eligible citizens, including first-time voters and those whose names are missing from the electoral rolls, to seek enrolment.

“Around 1.15 lakh applications were disposed of between August 31 and October 20,” an official said, adding that the figures were provisional as constituency-wise data for all 70 Assembly segments was yet to be uploaded and updated on the website of the Delhi Chief Electoral Officer (CEO).

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The draft rolls published on August 31 listed 97.53 lakh electors, down from 1.45 crore before the revision, after around 47.5 lakh names were removed and placed under the Absent, Shifted, Dead and Duplicate (ASDD) categories.

Of these, around 43.3 lakh were marked absent or permanently shifted, 2.82 lakh as deceased, and 1.41 lakh as duplicate voters.

The extent of verification has varied across constituencies. In Okhla, details could be verified for only 54.6 per cent of existing electors, while the proportion was 44.5 per cent in R K Puram and 44 per cent in Kasturba Nagar. Officials attributed Okhla’s low verification rate possibly to higher migration.

Seelampur, by comparison, recorded verification of 76.6 per cent of its electors, while the figures for Rohini, Shakur Basti and Mangolpuri stood at 83 per cent, 81 per cent and 78 per cent, respectively.

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Among the Assembly constituencies for which figures were available, around 2,000 Form 6 applications had been disposed of each in Okhla, Kasturba Nagar and Jangpura, while Tughlaqabad, Matia Mahal and R K Puram had recorded around 1,500 disposals each. The figure stood at around 1,000 in Kalkaji and 260 in Babarpur, according to poll officials.

The immediate focus, officials said, is on disposing of 33.12 lakh notices issued to electors whose records were flagged for non-mapping with the 2002 electoral rolls or for “logical discrepancies”, including inconsistencies in personal details.

More than 80 per cent of these cases have been resolved, the poll body said earlier. Booth-level officers (BLOs) are visiting households to collect supporting documents from electors whose cases involve non-mapping or logical discrepancies.

“We are holding special camps, and EROs are meeting BLOs. We want more and more people to file applications by October 30. From October 31 to November 30, we will focus solely on disposal of applications,” an official clarified.

Last week, Delhi’s Chief Electoral Officer directed officials to reverify the 47.5 lakh names removed from the draft rolls under the ASDD categories through door-to-door visits by BLOs.

Officials have also clarified that applicants whose Form 6 requests are rejected after October 30 would not necessarily lose the opportunity to enrol.

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The procedure followed in other states where the SIR has been completed would also be followed in Delhi, they said.

“Eligible citizens whose names remain missing from the rolls can apply for inclusion through the continuous updation process by submitting Form 6 to the concerned Electoral Registration Officer, in accordance with Election Commission guidelines,” he said.

As many as 14,911 Form 7 applications, used to seek deletion of names, were received between August 31 and October 20, taking the total since the beginning of the exercise to 66,382.

Another 93,036 Form 8 applications, used for corrections and other permitted changes to electoral roll entries, were received during the same period, taking the total to 3,53,804.

The final electoral rolls are scheduled to be published on December 4.