Delhi SIR: Only 0.7% electors successfully cleared discrepancies so far
What's the story
Only 0.7% of the 3.16 million people who were issued notices in Delhi have successfully cleared their special intensive revision (SIR) hearings so far. Of the 3.16 million people who were issued notices for mapping or logical discrepancies, only around 23,000 have confirmed their place in the final roll till now, officials were quoted as saying on Monday by Hindustan Times. The hearings will continue till October 29, and the final roll will be released on November 4.
Voter roll update
Draft voter list flags over 3.16 million names
The draft list, published on August 31, has removed nearly a third of Delhi's voters. It contains 9.75 million names and flags 3.16 million people under "no mapping" and "logical discrepancies."
These voters were issued notices for hearings that will continue until October 29.
The final voter roll will be published on November 4 after these hearings are completed.
Notable cases
Political leaders served notices
The deletion of names from the voter roll and the issuance of discrepancy notices have sparked a political controversy.
Among those served notices are Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, former CM Arvind Kejriwal, former Deputy PM LK Advani, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, and Election Commissioner SS Sandhu.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has clarified that receiving a notice does not automatically mean a voter's name will be removed from the electoral roll.
Political response
Congress accuses SIR of vote theft
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge slammed the SIR process as "flawed" and accused it of being a tool for vote theft.
Delhi BJP president Harsh Malhotra asked party teams to provide legal help to those served notices and assist them in filling Form 6 for new voter registration or renewal.
The draft rolls published on August 31 removed a third of voters, listing 9.75 million names, down from 14.5 million as of the June 30 roll.
Notice details
Name mismatches account for 41% of notices
Among the 9,753,577 electors in Delhi's draft rolls, 1,379,785 were placed in the "no mapping" category and 1,933,134 in the "logical discrepancy" category.
Name mismatches accounted for 41% of notices issued. A discrepancy in age difference accounted for another 16%.
Close to 140,000 people were marked for having six or more children, while some were flagged due to parents' ineligibility during the last SIR.
Application surge
Applications for name inclusion received after August 31
After August 31, election authorities received 84,263 applications for name inclusion using Form 6.
West Delhi recorded the highest number of Form 6 acceptances at 10,584.
The total number of applications received across four forms after August 31 stands at 116,715.
Additional AEROs (Assistant Electoral Registration Officers) are being deployed to speed up disposal of notices and claims, with special camps planned across polling stations on September 27.