The Election Commission has a particular appeal for all voters in Delhi: please verify the old voter list from 2002 on its website. This is because the city is going through a huge review of its electoral rolls. This is a very important step for a new, nationwide “Special Intensive Revision” (SIR) of voter data. The EC claims that this is necessary to keep the democratic process honest.
For a lot of people in Delhi, staying on the rolls might not be too hard. The Election Commission says that if your name is on both the 2002 and 2025 voter lists, you merely need to fill out a “Enumeration Form” and send them a copy of your name from the 2002 list. You won’t need any further proof.
But for some people, the procedure becomes more difficult. If your name isn’t on the 2002 list but your parents’ names are, you will need to send in evidence of identity together with the enumeration form and a copy of the 2002 voter list that shows your parents’ names.
The Delhi Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) has published the 2002 voter list on its website to facilitate people. The website currently includes two main tabs. One lets you search the 2002 list, while the other, in the “SIR” section, shows how the old constituency borders have changed over the years. This helps people find their own or their parents’ names.
The CEO’s office says that this public pre-verification will be a tremendous help for the Booth Level Officers (BLOs) who will be going door-to-door (H2H) to collect these forms and papers.
This voter rectification endeavor is part of a bigger effort across the country. In Bihar, the 2003 voter list was the cutoff for the SIR, and a similar process is already going on there. There has been a lot of disagreement over the Bihar procedure, especially on the documents that are needed. At first, common forms of ID like Aadhaar and ration cards were not accepted, which led to a big political fight. The Supreme Court had to step in and tell the EC to recognize Aadhaar as a legitimate ID, but not as proof of citizenship.
In early October, the final decision on the Bihar SIR case is scheduled to be made. This will set a standard for the rest of the country. Opposition parties have accused the process of being meant to keep people from voting, but the ruling party at the Center has defended it as an essential step to make sure the election rolls are correct.
The Election Commission has chosen BLOs for all of Delhi’s assembly constituencies and trained them and other officials for the work that lies ahead. The EC has said that the purpose is simple: to make sure that every eligible citizen is on the electoral roll and that no one who isn’t eligible is on it.