The Election Commission’s software flagged 19.33 lakh electors for 11 different “logical discrepancies” or anomalies, forming the bulk of the 33.1 lakh total voters facing scrutiny. Out of a total electorate of 1.45 crore registered voters in Delhi, the draft electoral roll currently has around 97.5 lakh voters whose enumeration forms were successfully digitised. The drive also left over 13.79 lakh “unmapped” electors on the draft roll facing notices for lacking mapping details from previous rolls.
Those left out can file their claims and objections until September 30, while for those included in the draft roll, all notices must be served, and claims and objections disposed of by October 29, ahead of the final electoral roll publication scheduled for November 4.
Software flags errors
According to the document accessed by The Hindu, the software flagged the affected electors under three main categories. Voters were flagged under progeny-linked anomalies, if more than six children are linked to one parent; the age gap between progeny and parent is under 15 or over 50 years; the age gap between progeny and grandparent is under 40 years; or there is less than a nine-month gap between two progenies; over mismatched parent names, changed relative types (father to mother), or shifts from “father” to “husband” between the current and previous SIR rolls.Under the second category, voters were flagged for incorrect age differences between the current and last SIR rolls. Finally, name mismatches flagged individuals for discrepancies in either the elector’s name or their father’s name between the two rolls.
The North East district will see the highest volume of action, with over 3 lakh voters set to receive notices for anomalies.
BLOs responsible
While the full list of flagged electors has not been uploaded publicly, Booth Level Officers (BLOs) have access to the names via their BLO app. BLOs are responsible for delivering the notices once generated, conducting verification, and taking photo attendance if a voter cannot attend their scheduled hearing before the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO).“The notices have a QR code through which an elector can submit the relevant document within the given seven-day period from when the notice is generated,” a senior official said. “While photo attendance is mandatory, the BLO has to verify the document and click the elector’s photo. Going to the ERO for hearing is not mandatory.”
Voters can submit their papers directly to the BLO. The official noted that document requirements for logical discrepancies are more flexible than for unmapped voters: “It is on the ERO’s satisfaction, in case none of the 11 prescribed documents is available, depending on the anomaly.”
