With over 97% of Delhi’s voters having received enumeration forms under the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Booth Level Officers (BLOs) say homeless voters are the hardest to verify, with many lacking documents, family records and fixed addresses required to complete the exercise. This has left the homeless worried that their names could be deleted from the electoral roll.

As part of the month-long door-to-door exercise, enumeration forms had been distributed to around 1.40 crore voters, or about 97% of Delhi’s electorate. But only 14.03 lakh forms had been digitised till Monday. Delhi’s electoral roll, frozen on June 16 before the exercise began, had around 1.45 crore voters. Ending on July 29, the enumeration drive will be followed by publication of draft rolls on August 5, and the final roll on October 7.

BLOs working in areas with significant homeless population said they have been making repeated visits to locate registered voters. However, as the addresses mentioned on identity cards are vague, often containing only a pillar number or the name of an area or landmark, it becomes difficult to locate them. Some BLOs said they have marked voters as “shifted” after failing to trace them.

An Election Commission (EC) said, Delhi has 10,448 homeless voters on its electoral roll. Under the EC rules, a person who regularly sleeps at a location can be enrolled in the electoral roll for that area. Many of them are migrants, have little formal education and possess only basic identity documents such as Aadhaar and voter identity cards, said the BLOs.

A BLO posted in New Delhi said homeless voters in the area have only Aadhaar and voter identity cards and are unable to provide previous SIR records or details about their parents.

“Many elderly people cannot recall their own or their parents’ details. Some of them left home years ago and are no longer in touch with their families. How can they arrange documents now? With only a district or village name, it is very difficult to search the records and identify their relative,” the BLO said.

Another BLO from central Delhi said lack of awareness is central to the problem. “For many poor and homeless people, identity cards are mainly used to access government schemes. They do not fully understand this exercise or the documents being asked for,” he said. “We are also working under deadlines and cannot spend hours tracing one person. Many keep changing locations because of eviction drives. I have filled as many forms as I could, but several people had no birth certificate, school certificate or details from the previous revision . For now, I have marked many as ‘shifted’.”

Some BLOs said they plan to make another round of late-night visits over the next few days, when homeless residents are more likely to be found at their sleeping locations.

Iqbal Khan, 30, whose voter identity card and SIR enumeration form lists his address as “Homeless, Institutional Area, Lodhi Road, Delhi”, said he has been living on the footpath with his wife and children for more than a decade. He showed copies of the enumeration form he filled as well as that of his wife, Bibi Halima Khatun.While the forms carried their photographs and signatures, the section seeking details from the previous SIR had been left blank and slashed.

“A madam came, took our photographs, checked our identity cards, filled the form, gave us a copy and left with one,” Mr. Khan said. He said the BLO had also asked for details of his parents’ voter identity cards, which he could not provide. “I was born in Old Delhi and even have a birth certificate. My family still lives there, but I have not spoken to them for over 10 years,” he said, adding that he had cut off ties with his family to marry and live with Ms. Khatun.

Ms. Khatun said she did not initially understand why the form was being filled. “I asked whether a new identity card was being made and why my photograph and details were needed. She told me the exercise was to identify Bangladeshis or other immigrants and remove them from the voter list because they are not Indians,” she said.

Nainkumari, who is in her 60s and lives in a nearby shelter home, said she moved to Delhi about three decades ago and no longer has access to family records. “My parents and grandparents are no more. I don’t know how I can provide those details,” she said. “I receive my pension using these identity cards. I hope that does not get affected.”

She also said her name is sometimes misspelled as “Naina Kumar” in official records, leading to mismatches across documents. Unaware of the purpose of the exercise, she asked, “Will I be asked to go back to my village and transfer my vote there?”

Published - July 14, 2026 12:45 am IST