Two days after Delhi’s draft roll was published under the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) drive, several voters who submitted their enumeration forms to Booth Level Officers (BLOs) found their names missing from the roll and marked ‘permanently shifted’ or ‘absent/untraceable’ despite the forms having been officially signed and digitised.
The Hindu has verified at least 16 such cases. Their names appear on the ASDD (‘absent’, ‘shifted’, ‘dead’, ‘duplicate’) list that categorises the names left out of the draft roll.
As many as 47.56 lakh names have been removed at the draft stage after their enumeration forms were not received by BLOs, according to an official statement. Of these, 31.59 lakh, or 66%, have been marked ‘permanently shifted’, according to an analysis of the ASDD list by The Hindu. Notably, Delhi had a total registered electorate of 1.45 crore before the draft rolls were published.
‘Fix accountability’
Jitendra Kumar, 56, from Mehrauli, who has voted from the same polling booth for a decade, found his name marked ‘permanently shifted’.
Of the 907 voters registered at the local polling booth, 896 have been marked ‘permanently shifted’, including Mr. Kumar. His form had been verified and signed by the BLO, as seen by The Hindu.
“Accountability should be fixed and it should be explained how I am marked ‘permanently shifted’ instead of being told to fill Form 6,” he said.
According to the Election Commission (EC), electors whose names have not been included in the draft list are required to submit Form 6 during the claims and objections period ending September 30.
When reached for comment, the BLO said, “I had mapped and digitised nearly 600 forms. Now I don’t know why voters are unable to find their names in the draft roll.”
Another case is of Ashish Ranjan from Timarpur. He moved from Bihar and has been enrolled as a Delhi voter since 2014. On the official EC portal, his form is marked as ‘successfully submitted’. He also submitted a physical form to his BLO on August 7. However, his name appeared in the ASDD list as ‘permanently shifted’.
Mr. Ranjan said he will not fill Form 6. “I am an election researcher… On what basis is one marked ‘permanently shifted’? Why is there ambiguity regarding this? Form 6 is for new voters,” he said.
In Jangpura, Chander Shekhar’s name appeared in the draft roll, while those of his wife Pooja Rani, 42, and parents Dharampal, 61, and Parmeshwari, 62, were marked “absent/untraceable”. The family said they had submitted their forms together at a voter service centre after the BLO did not come to collect them. The BLO told them, “they don’t have list”.
‘Reasons not known’
A senior official said the reason for such cases was “unknown”, but voters whose names are missing from the draft roll would have to enrol afresh by submitting Form 6 along with a declaration form. Regarding Mr. Rajan’s case, the BLO concerned said, “I am waiting to get some clarity from the Electoral Registration Officer at the next meeting.” The Hindu verified four such cases reported to the Timarpur BLO.
None of the voters in these cases received an acknowledgement slip or a second copy of their enumeration form, which was to be provided upon submission.
Published – September 03, 2026 01:11 am IST
