Spl summary revision of Delhi electoral roll to start from Nov 1; media cell set up

The special summary revision of Delhi's electoral roll with January 1, 2022, as the qualifying date will begin from November 1, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) said on Tuesday.

Also, a ''permanent media cell'' has been set up at the Delhi CEO Office, according to the directions of the Election Commission, to disseminate information to the media regularly, officials said.

The Election Commission has directed that permanent media cells be set up in all CEO offices at state and Union Territory levels, the Delhi CEO Office said in a statement.

''A media cell has been set up as per the directions of the Election Commission of India. A Group 'A' officer of Delhi Government, Kaanchan Azad, who is deputy director in DIP (Directorate of Information and Publicity) has been appointed as Officer on Special Duty (Media) in the CEO Office,'' it said.

Media is one of the major pillars of democracy and plays an important role in the electoral process. It also is a key ally in informing and educating voters, CEO Ranbir Singh was quoted as saying in the statement. ''The commission in its objective of 'No voter to be left behind' considers media as an equal partner for making the election process participative and inclusive,'' he said.

The Delhi CEO said that the special summary revision (SSR) of electoral roll with January 1, 2022, as the qualifying date, will start from November 1.

During this SSR, any person who would be 18 years or more on or before January 1, 2022, will be eligible to enroll as a voter, the officials said.

Delhi's last electoral roll was published in January this year, according to which the total number of eligible voters in the city had then stood at over 1.48 crore.

SSR of electoral roll with respect to January 1, 2021 as the qualifying date, was done in all 70 assembly constituencies of Delhi.

The total number of electors in the final electoral roll of Delhi as on January 15 this year had stood at 1,48,98,069 which was 2,05,933 more than the total electors -- 1,46,92,136 -- in the final roll published on January 6 last year, the CEO Office had earlier said.

The CEO also emphasised on the need to adopt online mode for availing electoral services or the voter helpline mobile app, in order to stay safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.

For any querries or assistance, citizens can call on the helpline 1950 from 9 AM to 9 PM on all days, except national holidays, officials said.