Delhi SIR: Special camps to help homeless, transgender persons and sex workers register as voters
The Delhi election authorities will hold special evening camps at night shelters and other identified locations to help homeless citizens, transgender persons and sex workers participate in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
According to the Delhi Chief Electoral Officer, the camps will be conducted on September 23 and 24 from 5 pm to 9 pm at all Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) night shelters and other designated locations across the capital’s 13 districts. Booth-level officers will be present to assist applicants.
Separate outreach programmes will also be organised for transgender persons and sex workers in coordination with NGOs working with the communities. The initiative comes amid concerns over difficulties some applicants may face in establishing identity and residence during the revision exercise.
The number of third-gender electors in Delhi’s draft electoral roll fell from 1,261 in the roll used for the 2025 Assembly polls to 447 in the draft published on August 31 — a decline of about 64.55 per cent. Community representatives have previously flagged issues such as differences in names across identity documents, difficulties in providing proof of permanent residence and lack of access to documents held by estranged family members.
Election officials have also acknowledged that verification can be difficult for homeless voters who may not have fixed addresses, family records or conventional residence documents. The Delhi CEO’s office has said that eligible persons who qualify as “ordinary residents” will be included in the final electoral roll, subject to the prescribed verification process.
Officials have been directed to process applications from the three groups in accordance with the Election Commission’s Manual of Electoral Rolls-2023. Applicants will be encouraged to submit forms online through the BLO app, while physical forms will also be collected.
The camps are part of the claims and objections phase of the SIR. General special camps will also be held at all polling station locations in Delhi on September 20 and 27 from 10 am to 5 pm, allowing voters to check the draft roll and seek assistance with applications through the Election Commission’s Voters’ Service Portal or ECINet mobile application.
The draft roll published on August 31 contains 97,53,577 electors, compared with 1,55,24,858 electors on the rolls used for the 2025 Assembly polls. Eligible persons left out of the draft roll can submit claims for inclusion through Form 6, along with supporting documents, until September 30. The examination and disposal of claims and objections is scheduled to continue until October 29, with the final electoral roll due to be published on November 4.
The Election Commission has stated that the SIR exercise is intended to ensure that eligible electors are included while ineligible entries are excluded, with procedures and verification governed by its applicable instructions.
with inputs from PTI