Marked ‘shifted’, ‘absent’: voters who submitted SIR forms find names missing from draft roll
Voters in Delhi are reporting that their names have been incorrectly removed from the draft electoral roll during a special revision drive. Despite submitting valid forms, many have been categorized as 'permanently shifted' or 'absent' without explanation.
Why it matters
This raises significant concerns regarding the integrity of the electoral process and the administrative efficiency of the Election Commission of India.
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.
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