Missing names in draft roll not final deletions, says New Delhi Assembly electoral officer

The electoral registration officer (ERO) for the New Delhi Assembly constituency on Thursday said names missing from the August 31 draft roll prepared under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) should not be treated as final deletions and that each case was based on field verification and the prescribed procedure.

The clarification came a day after a news report questioned the absence of several names from the draft roll, including those of voters added before the 2025 Delhi Assembly elections.

The ERO said the draft roll was prepared on the basis of enumeration forms submitted during the enumeration phase from June 30 to August 17. Booth-level officers (BLOs) had undertaken house-to-house visits to distribute and collect forms, besides facilitating online submission.

“Non-inclusion of a name in the draft electoral roll does not, by itself, constitute a final determination of ineligibility,” the ERO said, adding that eligible voters whose names are missing can file Form 6 with the required declaration and supporting documents during the claims and objections period, which ends on September 30.

Citing individual cases referred to in the report, the ERO said students at the Blind Relief Association had shifted outside Delhi and were not residing at the location during the enumeration phase. Their names were accordingly placed in the absent, shifted, dead and duplicate (ASDD) list.

Similarly, nine voters were not found at house number P8 in Pillanji village, Sarojini Nagar, during verification and were therefore marked in the ASDD list. Another voter, Girish Chandra Pal, had already been deleted from the roll on May 20 after the completion of prescribed formalities.

Rejecting the suggestion that a comparison between voters added during an earlier revision and those missing from the current draft could by itself establish wrongful deletion, the ERO said, “The figures and individual cases mentioned in media reports relate to particular categories and periods of electoral roll revision. The mere comparison of additions in one revision period with non-inclusion in a subsequent draft electoral roll cannot, by itself, establish that a deletion or non-inclusion is erroneous and mala fide. Each case is required to be examined on the basis of applicable eligibility conditions, field verification, documents and prescribed procedure.”