The short version
- Delhi’s draft electoral roll excludes over four million residents, representing roughly a third of the previous electorate.
- Sex workers in the GB Road district face exclusion rates exceeding seventy-five percent due to inability to produce specific identity documents.
- Critics argue the revision process targets vulnerable populations and minorities, while officials maintain it aims to remove ineligible voters.
India’s Election Commission has initiated a sweeping revision of voter lists that has significantly reduced the number of eligible voters across multiple states. In Delhi, which is part of the third phase of this exercise, the scale of exclusion is particularly stark. The draft electoral roll published in late August omits approximately 4.76 million names, accounting for 33 percent of the city’s previous electorate. This reduction follows earlier phases in thirteen other states where more than 58 million voters were removed from the rolls nationwide.
The government describes this special intensive revision as a necessary measure to purify electoral lists by eliminating ineligible entries, including those of alleged undocumented migrants. However, opposition groups and civil society observers have raised concerns that the process may be designed to target minority communities and reshape the political landscape in favor of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. The controversy centers on the stringent documentation requirements imposed on voters who must now prove their eligibility through a rigorous verification process.
Among those most severely affected are sex workers residing in Delhi’s historic red-light districts, particularly along Garstin Bastion Road, locally known as GB Road. This area, situated between Ajmeri Gate and Lahori Gate, hosts an estimated 2,800 women working in brothels located on the upper floors of dilapidated buildings. These women already contend with significant social challenges, including health risks, abuse, debt, and poor sanitation conditions.
Data from officials overseeing voter registration in the GB Road area reveals a disproportionate impact on this community. Of approximately 650 sex workers listed on the previous electoral roll for this locality, at least 500 have been marked as shifted or deemed ineligible due to missing documentation. This means more than three-quarters of the sex workers previously registered to vote in this district are now excluded from the draft roll.
The new rules require voters to establish their eligibility by proving a link to previous electoral rolls or by producing specific prescribed documents such as passports, birth certificates, or education records. For many women in GB Road, reconstructing this paper trail is nearly impossible. Beauty, a 36-year-old sex worker who has lived on the street for over two decades, illustrates these difficulties. She obtained her first voter ID in 2008 when her address and verification by a booth-level officer were sufficient.
Under the current system, Beauty struggles to provide the required documentation. Trafficked at age sixteen, she has no contact with her family of origin and cannot return to her village in Rajasthan to retrieve records due to the stigma associated with her past. Although she possesses an Aadhaar card, India’s biometric identity document, this alone does not satisfy the citizenship proof requirements for voting under the revision process.
Beauty attempted to secure a copy of her matriculation certificate from her hometown with help from a long-term partner, but the effort failed. She expressed frustration that despite having lived and worked in Delhi for years, she cannot prove her identity through the channels now mandated. Her exclusion represents not just a loss of political voice but also a symbolic stripping of dignity she associates with the act of voting.
Interviews with nine sex workers in the area revealed that none had successfully completed the revision process. Six reported never receiving enumeration forms from booth-level officers, while the other three could not meet the documentation standards. The voter ID held particular significance for these women, serving as a rare instance where they felt equal to other citizens regardless of societal judgments about their profession.
The broader implications of this electoral revision extend beyond individual cases like Beauty’s. The removal of millions of voters raises questions about democratic participation and representation in India. As the process continues, advocates warn that marginalized groups lacking stable housing or formal documentation are at greatest risk of being permanently disenfranchised.
What comes next remains uncertain as the Election Commission proceeds with finalizing the rolls. Critics urge a review of the documentation requirements to ensure they do not inadvertently suppress the votes of legitimate citizens who lack access to traditional identity papers. The outcome will likely influence future elections and set precedents for how voter eligibility is determined in India’s complex demographic landscape.
Sources behind this briefing
Go to the original reporting
- The Guardian US↗No hope, no vote ... how most of Delhi’s sex workers are being struck off electoral rolls
