Delhi BLOs to record reasons for removing names of eligible voters

Details of an elector being recorded at a special camp in New Delhi. | Photo Credit: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA Booth Level Officers (BLOs) in Delhi have been asked to record why eligible electors were earlier marked absent, shifted, dead or duplicate (ASDD), and why those traced during re-verification are unwilling to submit Form 6 to get their names back on the rolls as new voters, The Hindu has learnt.The instructions come amid the ongoing re-verification of 47.56 lakh names dropped from the draft roll published on August 31 after being placed in the ASDD categories.Fourth deadline revisionOn Thursday, the Election Commission of India (ECI) pushed the deadline for publishing Delhi’s final electoral roll to December 22, marking the fourth such revision.As per the revised schedule, the deadline for filing claims and objections has been extended by 26 days, from October 30 to November 25, giving eligible electors more time to seek inclusion in the final roll during the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) drive. The disposal of claims and objections will have to be completed by December 15.New columnA new ‘Remarks’ column has been added to the BLO mobile application to record details of the re-verification exercise.This field will be used to record why an elector was placed in the ASDD categories during the enumeration phase, whether the person was found residing at the registered address and, if eligible, why the person was reluctant to submit Form 6.The column will also be used to record cases in which an elector is found at the registered address but has already enrolled in another constituency.BLOs have been provided with the ASDD lists, along with the corresponding addresses, and instructed to conduct door-to-door visits to verify the voters’ details. They have also been asked to maintain records of the number of visits made, electors found eligible, Form 6 applications filed and reasons for not filing the form.Oct. 2 orderThe instructions follow the ECI’s October 2 order for a special drive to include eligible voters whose names were not included in the draft rolls in States where the SIR exercise has been completed.The Delhi Chief Electoral Officer’s directions to BLOs for re-verification were issued nearly a week after the poll panel announced the drive.The draft electoral roll published on August 31 contained the names of 97.5 lakh electors, down from around 1.45 crore before the rolls were frozen for the SIR on June 16.Since August 31, poll officials in the Capital have received 2.79 lakh applications seeking inclusion in the electoral roll. An additional 22,707 applications have been filed either objecting to the inclusion of names or seeking deletion of existing entries. Published - October 31, 2026 04:30 am IST