With the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls beginning on Tuesday, Delhi Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Ashok Kumar on Monday said the office will chalk out a plan with the Election Commission of India (ECI) to include eligible voters whose houses have been demolished recently.
Addressing a press conference at his office in Kashmere Gate, he acknowledged that the issue has emerged ahead of the exercise.
Kumar said the matter of residents displaced due to recent demolition drives has been flagged and a suitable mechanism will be worked out in consultation with the poll panel to ensure that eligible electors are not deprived of their voting rights.
“This is an issue that has come up. We will discuss it with the Election Commission of India and chalk out a strategy,” he said.
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The SIR of electoral rolls will formally commence on June 30 with house-to-house verification by Booth Level Officers (BLOs) across the national Capital. More than 13,000 BLOs have been deployed for the exercise and will visit households to verify the details of existing voters, identify eligible new voters and facilitate corrections in the electoral rolls.
Election officials said the exercise is aimed at ensuring that the electoral rolls remain accurate and up to date ahead of future elections. Kumar said the exercise will begin on June 30 with house-to-house verification by Booth Level Officers (BLOs), and will continue till July 29.
The draft electoral roll will be published on August 5, after which claims and objections can be filed till September 4. The disposal of claims and objections will continue till October 3, and the final electoral roll will be published on October 7.
During the exercise, BLOs will visit every household to distribute pre-printed enumeration forms in duplicate to existing electors and assist them in filling them. If a voter is unavailable, the form will be handed over to an adult family member or left at the residence if it is locked, he said.
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, carrying an acknowledgement of receipt, will remain with the elector, Kumar said.
According to Kumar, there are 1,45,10,298 electors in Delhi, including 67,98,142 women and 1,024 third gender voters.
