Delhi's draft electoral roll sees fall of over 1.4 lakh voters

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Delhi's draft electoral roll published Saturday shows a dip of over 1.4 lakh in the total number of electors in the city compared to the draft list of last year, with authorities attributing death and migration of voters as the main reasons behind the fall in number.

The total number of electors in Delhi stands at 1,36,15,776 in the draft roll and there is decrease in the number of both male and female voters vis-a-vis the one published on October 23, 2017.

With the release of draft electoral roll, the Election Commission has also begun the process to induct new voters in the electoral list who have either turned 18 or will complete that age by January 1 next year, officials said.

Special Summary Revision of Electoral Roll with respect to January 1, 2019 as the qualifying date, has been commenced in all 70 Assembly constituencies of Delhi, with draft publication of electoral roll on Saturday (September 1), according to the Delhi CEO Office.

The total number of electors in Delhi is 1,41,766 less than the corresponding figure published in October last year, as per the data shared by the office of Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) here.

The number of male, female and third gender electors are 75,20,824; 60,94,115 and 837 respectively, according to the latest draft roll. The corresponding numbers for the October 23 roll were 76,14,539; 61,42,143 and 860.

The fall in number has been due to reasons like death and migration of voters. Family members are supposed to fill Form 7 to update the status after a voter's death, but many do not do that. So, we have cleared that from the list, a senior official of the Delhi CEO Office told PTI.

And, then there are many people who have migrated out of Delhi. So, we have updated the list from that aspect too. And, our list would be updated in January, he said.

Asked, if any bogus voter cards were among those discarded, he claimed, They could not have been bogus, as we follow our due diligence in issuing those cards.

Death and migration, especially migration is the main factor, he said.

Besides, including new voters, another objective for the summary revision exercise is to give opportunities for correction in electors' particulars and also to invite objections against any wrong inclusion in the electoral roll.

People can file claims and objections from September 1 to October 31. Special camps in senior secondary schools, colleges, polytechnics and ITIs would be held on September 27 and 28, a senior official said.

Final electoral rolls would be published on January 4.

Delhi has 70 Asembly constituencies (ACs) and seven Lok Sabha seats. North West parliamentary constituency has maximum (22,87,777) electors while Chandi Chowk has minimum (1,498,257) in that category.

Among Assemble seats, Tilak Nagar (AC-29) has the highest gender ratio at 942 while Okhla (AC-54) has the lowest at 644. Fourteen ACs have gender ratio more than the state's gender ratio 868.

The Commission has also launched new jingles on radio and other electronic medium to encourage new eligible voters to get enrolled.