Receiving a notice during Delhi's ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) does not mean a voter's name will be deleted from the electoral roll, the city's election body said on Monday amid a political row over the exercise.
The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Delhi, said no name can be removed without giving the elector an opportunity to be heard and passing a reasoned, appealable order. Notices are part of the verification process and do not by themselves mean exclusion from the voter list.
AAP Questions SIR Process
The clarification comes after the Aam Aadmi Party raised questions over the SIR process.
AAP Delhi chief Saurabh Bharadwaj questioned how former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and members of his family could remain "unmapped", arguing that if a former Chief Minister faced such problems, ordinary voters with less time and fewer resources could find the process even more difficult.
Election officials have said Kejriwal and his family are on the draft electoral roll and were issued notices because their details could not be mapped to the previous SIR records.
Bharadwaj also questioned why rules concerning voters who had shifted residences had not been applied to Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and ministers Kapil Mishra, Ashish Sood and other BJP leaders. He alleged that many voters had been affected after being marked as shifted.
Poll Body Cites 'Ordinary Residence' Rule
In a separate clarification referring to the AAP press conference, the Delhi CEO cited provisions governing the "ordinary residence" of MPs, MLAs and holders of certain public offices.
Under Section 20 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, an MP or MLA does not cease to be ordinarily resident in the constituency where they were registered at the time of election merely because they are away in connection with their official duties. Section 20 also contains provisions for holders of certain offices declared by the President.
These include Union and state Cabinet Ministers, Ministers of State, Governors, Lieutenant Governors and Speakers, among others. The provision allows such office-holders to be treated as ordinarily resident in the constituency where they would otherwise have lived but for holding that office.
The CEO also said that, under Election Commission instructions, public representatives, members of the judiciary, holders of declared offices and certain other prominent people whose entries had earlier been flagged were included in the draft roll so that necessary documents could be collected during the claims-and-objections period.
Separately, the CEO has published the list of electors issued notices under the SIR, along with the reasons for issuing them.
Notices have been generated for voters whose details could not be mapped or linked with the electoral roll from the previous SIR and those whose records showed what the poll body described as "logical discrepancies".
The notices are meant to allow correction and verification of voter data in ECINET.
What Voters Need To Know
Voters who receive notices can submit their replies and supporting documents to the concerned Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) or Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO).
The Election Commission's prescribed list of documents is indicative and not exhaustive. EROs and AEROs will take a final decision after considering the documents available and the Booth Level Officer's report.
The notice phase and the claims-and-objections process are currently underway. Notices can be disposed of until October 29, while Delhi's final electoral roll is scheduled to be published on November 4, 2026.
Delhi's draft electoral roll was published on August 31, based on information provided by electors in Enumeration Forms submitted to BLOs.
The draft roll includes voters who could link themselves or their family entries with the previous SIR roll as well as those who could not establish such a link. The CEO Delhi website also allows voters to check their details and access information related to the SIR exercise.
The list of Absentee, Shifted, Dead and Duplicate (ASDD) electors has also been published. It was prepared by BLOs during house-to-house visits in consultation with Booth Level Agents appointed by recognised political parties.
Special camps were held at polling stations across Delhi on September 20. The next round will be held on September 27 from 10 am to 5 pm.
Senior citizens, women and persons with disabilities can approach their BLOs or AEROs for assistance.
Separate camps for homeless people, transgender people and sex workers will be held on September 23 and 24 from 5 pm to 9 pm at DUSIB night shelters and other identified locations.
Eligible residents whose names are missing from the draft roll can file Form 6 with supporting documents until September 30 for inclusion in the final electoral roll. Form 6 is the Election Commission's application for enrolment as a voter.
The form can be submitted offline to an ERO, AERO or BLO, or online through the Election Commission's voters' portal and the ECINET mobile app.
The CEO is also deploying additional AEROs across Delhi's Assembly constituencies to speed up hearings and the disposal of notices, claims and objections.
