EC extends Delhi SIR schedule, final electoral roll-on Oct 19

The revised schedule extended house-to-house verification till August 8 and pushed the final electoral roll publication to October 19.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday extended the schedule for Delhi’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, pushing the publication of the draft electoral roll to August 17 and the final roll to October 19, while extending the ongoing house-to-house verification exercise by booth level officers (BLOs) till August 8.

Electoral registration officers (EROs) will continue to dispose of claims and objections till October 15 before the final electoral roll is published on October 19. (Jitender Gupta)

In an order issued to Delhi’s chief electoral officer (CEO), the Commission said the schedule was revised following a request from the state election machinery. Under the revised schedule, house-to-house visits by BLOs, which began on June 30, will continue till August 8 instead of ending on July 29. Rationalisation and rearrangement of polling stations will be completed by August 8, while the draft electoral roll will now be published on August 17.

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The ECI has also revised the period for filing claims and objections to August 17-September 16. Electoral registration officers (EROs) will continue to dispose of claims and objections till October 15 before the final electoral roll is published on October 19.

“More time has been given to all states where the process is going on. This will ensure that the process is completed properly without rushing the BLOs, while giving people more time to fill the forms,” an official from the CEO’s office said.

Alongside the revised schedule, the Delhi CEO’s office released the latest progress report on the enumeration exercise. As of 8pm on July 15, enumeration forms had been distributed to 14,398,463 electors out of Delhi’s total electorate of 14,510,298, covering 99.23% of voters.

However, only 2,175,534 forms had been digitised, accounting for about 14.99% of the total electorate.

The highest digitisation rate was reported from Outer North district, where 29.57% of forms had been uploaded, followed by Southwest district at 21.80%. Central North recorded 18.72%, while North district reported 17.82%. Old Delhi had the lowest digitisation rate at 9.09%, followed by East at 9.21% and Southeast at 9.47%, according to the CEO’s status report.

An election official said the extension would allow BLOs to cover the remaining households and help ensure that eligible electors are not left out.

“The revised schedule provides additional time for field verification and completion of the enumeration exercise. Booth level officers will continue house-to-house visits till August 8, after which the draft electoral roll will be published. Electors will then have the opportunity to file claims and objections before the final roll is published,” the official said.

The SIR exercise began in Delhi on June 30, with July 1, 2026, as the qualifying date. BLOs are visiting households to distribute pre-filled enumeration forms, verify elector details and collect updated information for the preparation of the revised electoral roll.

According to the CEO’s office, the exercise is being carried out across all 70 assembly constituencies and more than 13,000 polling stations in the capital. The Commission has said the objective of the revision is to ensure that no eligible citizen is left out of the electoral roll, and no ineligible person is included.