The Delhi Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) has begun preparations for a special intensive revision (SIR) of the national capital’s voter list, ahead of a verification drive that must be completed by October 26.

The move follows an Election Commission (EC) notification issued on Tuesday, mandating revisions to state- and union territory-level voter lists using 2002 as the base year.

Voters will be asked to verify their names and those of their parents in the 2002 rolls. “This will be helpful during house-to-house visits to collect required documents,” the Delhi CEO said.

In case a voter’s name is missing or a discrepancy is found, they must submit proof of identity along with the enumeration form, as well as an extract of the 2002 list, which has already been uploaded to the Delhi CEO’s website.

To assist voters who may have moved in the past two decades, today’s Assembly constituencies have been mapped against those from 2002.

Delhi currently has around 83.4 lakh male and 71.74 lakh female voters.

EC’s nationwide exercise

The EC has directed all states and union territories to finish their SIR by October 26 “without fail.” The exercise, officials say, is meant to ensure that only eligible citizens remain on the electoral rolls.

The directive comes after a similar drive in Bihar sparked political controversy. The opposition accused the EC and the ruling BJP of colluding to commit voter fraud ahead of an expected Assembly election in November.

Bihar controversy

The Bihar SIR cut voter rolls from 7.9 crore to less than 7.24 crore, with nearly 65 lakh names removed.

According to the EC, these included 22 lakh deceased voters, 36 lakh who had permanently shifted or could not be traced, and about 7 lakh who were double-registered.

Opposition parties, however, alleged the process disproportionately affected marginalised groups and filed multiple petitions in the Supreme Court.

Earlier this week, the top court ruled the EC has constitutional authority to revise and re-check voter lists, but stressed the process could be scrapped if illegality is proven. It stopped short of halting the Bihar revision exercise.