‘Delhi electoral rolls to be finalised before municipal polls’

New Delhi: The total number of voters in Delhi has swelled by 1,03,610, polling locations have decreased by six, while polling stations have increased by 31, and the count of transgenders has rolled up by 84, according to the latest electoral roll.
The electoral rolls are important this year as the three municipal corporations in the city, North, South, and East are due to go to polls in April. Election officer Manoj Basoya, said, “We have a criteria of having 1,500 voters for a polling station and if the voters increase beyond that number, we have to create a new polling station.”
Basoya added: “We have received around 53,000 young electors since 1 November who have just reached 18 and have become eligible for voting.”
An official in the state election commission said, “We have many more applications pending, we have received a lot more after freezing the rolls, now the final rolls will be published in March before the municipal polls, which will decide how many voters will actually go for polling,”
“The primary objective of the Special Summary Revision 2022 was to get fresh enrolment i.e. who have attained the age of 18 or 18+ as on qualifying date of 1 January 2022, and to give opportunities for correction in electors’ particulars and also to invite objections against any wrong inclusion in the electoral rolls,” the report read.
The report has shown an upward trend in the ratio of women eligible for voting, “Gender ratio of the electors registered in the final electoral roll has increased to 831 compared to the gender ratio of 826 in the previous final roll last published on 15 January 2021”.
Kamei Aphun, a sociology professor at Delhi University, said, “As innumerable Covid waves have impeded the normal functioning of life, public interest should be reflected in conducting all the electoral processes, an increase of 31 polling stations is a welcome step and will help the voters from “inadvertent formation” of small crowds in the voting process, these are unprecedented times and cooperation from all sections of people is of utmost importance.”
In 2022, the total electors in final electoral rolls are 1,48,99,159, out of which 81,38,593 are male, and 67,59,534 are female and 1,032 are third gender electors.
As per the previous final electoral roll published in January last year, total electors were 1,48,98,069 comprising 81,58,180 male, 67,38,976 female, and 913 were third gender electors, according to the statement.