New Delhi: Nearly 47.6 lakh names are missing from Delhi’s draft voter list, following the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The sharp drop in the number of voters has sparked a political row, with former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal questioning the exercise and taking a swipe at the Election Commission.
Delhi had 1,45,10,299 registered voters in the earlier electoral roll. After the revision, the draft list has 97,53,577 names a difference of 47,56,722 voters.
But the Election Commission says the missing names should not automatically be treated as voters who have been permanently removed. During its verification exercise, officials classified voters who did not appear in the draft under categories such as Absent, Shifted, Dead, Duplicate and Other (ASDDO).
The biggest group consists of voters who were either found to have moved from their registered address or could not be contacted. The Election Commission has put this figure at 43,32,775. It has also identified 2,82,412 voters as deceased and 1,41,535 entries as duplicates or multiple registrations.
The figures come after a door to door verification exercise carried out across Delhi. According to the Election Commission, enumeration forms covering around 67.18% of the previous electorate were received and digitised.
The exercise has also highlighted differences between constituencies. Rohini recorded the highest digitisation rate at 83.43%, while Tughlakabad recorded the lowest at 52.15%.
The huge change in the voter count has given the Opposition fresh ammunition. Kejriwal criticised the exercise and, in a sarcastic remark, said that if such a process were carried out across the country, India’s population could theoretically be reduced from around 140 crore to 50 crore.
However, the draft voter list is not the final list. Voters whose names are missing still have an opportunity to get them included.
The claims and objections process began on August 31 and will remain open until September 30. Eligible voters can submit Form 6 along with the required documents to seek inclusion in the electoral roll.
After examining claims and objections, the Election Commission plans to publish Delhi’s final electoral roll on November 4, 2026.
For now, the central question is simple how many of the 47.6 lakh missing names belong to genuinely ineligible entries, and how many belong to eligible voters who could not be reached or verified? That answer will become clearer as the claims and objections process moves forward.
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