New Delhi, Sep 16 (PTI) Voter registration under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise is progressing at a sluggish pace in the Capital, with just over 62,000 people submitting their Form 6 by the halfway mark of the month-long claims and objections phase, even though 47.5 lakh voters were removed from the draft rolls published last month.
Delhi poll officials said on Wednesday that they expected at least 10 per cent of the people whose names were excluded from the draft rolls to apply during the claims and objections phase, scheduled to conclude on September 30.
According to data from the Delhi Chief Electoral Officer’s (CEO) office, a total of 62,583 people filled out Form 6 for registration during the first 15 days. Before the publication of the draft electoral rolls on August 31, a total of 2,12,400 Form 6 submissions had been received.
Voters whose names were removed from the draft rolls can submit Form 6, along with supporting documents, by September 30 so that their names are included in the final electoral rolls to be published on November 4, officials said.
According to the data, nearly 1,400 Form 6A submissions from overseas Indians were also received for voter registration by September 15.
“Of the 13 districts in Delhi, the least number of Form 6s were submitted from New Delhi at 1,203. Old Delhi had 2,547 submissions, Central 2,647, Central North 4,188, and Outer North 4,287 in the first 15 days of the claims and objections phase,” said an official.
These are districts with smaller populations. Even in bigger districts with a larger population base, the number of Form 6 submissions was lower than 10,000.
“The highest number of forms were submitted from the West district at 7,834, followed by North West at 6,384, East 6,297, North East 5,585, and South West 5,436,” the official added.
Poll officials pointed out that the number of voters in Delhi’s final rolls could decrease further, as notices are being issued for various discrepancies in the details furnished by even those voters whose names were there in the draft rolls.
Around 33 lakh voters, whose names appeared in the draft rolls of the 70 Assembly constituencies in the city, are being issued notices. This number is over one-third of the total 97 lakh voters whose names were published in the draft rolls.
Already the names of one-third voters (around 47.5 lakh) were removed in the draft rolls under the SIR exercise that kick-started with door-to-door verification of voters on June 30.
“The reason behind the low number of voter registrations could be that a large portion of Delhi’s population is floating. Such people, including government employees, live in Delhi for a few years, become voters and then shift to other states,” a senior official at the CEO’s office said.
He also pointed out that during door-to-door verification, over 47 lakh people did not submit their enumeration forms, implying that they did not wish to be voters in Delhi or lacked proper records of their previous SIR in Delhi or their home state.
The forms for registration as voters can be submitted in person to the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO), Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO), or Booth Level Officer (BLO), as well as at designated polling stations.
Applications to get enrolled can also be filed online through the Election Commission’s voter services portal or the ECINET mobile application.
Applicants seeking inclusion through Form 6 must furnish the prescribed declaration and documents relating to their date of birth and residence, officials said. PTI VIT BUN SAP SAP SAP
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