Lucknow: The publication of Uttar Pradesh’s draft electoral roll following a Special Intensive Revision has revealed a significant reshaping of the state’s voter base, with 2.89 crore names deleted from the list and 12.55 crore voters retained. The Election Commission has opened a month-long window from January 6 to February 6 for citizens to verify their status and seek inclusion, correction or deletion before the final roll is released on March 6, 2026.
According to Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa, the deletions account for about 18.70 per cent of the 15.44 crore voters who were registered before the revision. He said the exclusions were largely the result of deaths, permanent migration and duplicate registrations detected during the verification drive. Of the names missing, 46.23 lakh were identified as deceased voters, around 2.17 crore belonged to people who had shifted out of their constituencies or could not be verified during the exercise, and 25.47 lakh were duplicate entries. After the revision, the electorate stands at roughly 12.55 crore.
The Special Intensive Revision process began on October 27, 2025, with the first phase of fieldwork starting on November 4. At that time, the rolls carried 15,30,92,000 names. Enumeration forms were printed for every voter and distributed door to door by booth-level officers for verification and signatures from voters or their family members.
Rinwa said the enumeration phase was initially scheduled to conclude on December 11, but was extended twice. “When we found that nearly 2.97 crore names were likely to be excluded, an additional 15 days were granted,” he said. The fieldwork ultimately continued until December 26. During this period, forms were received for 12.55 crore voters, accounting for 81.30 per cent of the electorate. Around 18 per cent of forms were not returned.
“Over 15 crore voters or their family members signed and returned the forms,” Rinwa said, adding that non-returned forms were mostly linked to deaths, migration or duplication. He reiterated that no name had been removed without due process.
District-wise data show wide variation in deletions, with Lucknow recording the highest number at about 12 lakh, while Lalitpur saw the lowest at roughly 95,000. The revised draft roll covers all 75 districts and 403 assembly constituencies in the state.
The Election Commission attributed a delay in publishing the draft list to parallel fieldwork and instructions to rationalise polling stations.
Rinwa said the Commission capped voters per polling station at 1,200 instead of the earlier norm of 1,500, leading to the creation of around 15,030 new polling stations across Uttar Pradesh. Approval for this exercise came on December 23, and data migration took about a week, prompting the draft roll’s publication on January 6 instead of December 31.
From January 6, voters whose names are missing can apply for inclusion using Form 6 until February 6. Requests for deletion or correction can be filed through Forms 7 and 8. Applications can be submitted offline through booth-level officers or voter registration centres at tehsil offices, or online via the ECINet mobile application and the Election Commission’s portals. Rinwa said the process is free of cost, with a toll-free helpline number 1950 available for assistance. Special camps will be organised, particularly in urban areas where participation during verification was lower.
He added that people born before January 1, 2008 are eligible to apply, and those who became eligible from October onwards can also submit forms. More than 15.78 lakh Form 6 applications have already been received. Special efforts are being made to assist senior citizens, persons with disabilities and marginalised groups, while youth who turned 18 by January 1, 2026 are being encouraged to enrol.
The exercise involved 1.72 lakh polling booths, with booth-level officers working alongside volunteers. Rinwa acknowledged the support of political parties, noting that 5.76 lakh booth-level agents appointed by recognised parties assisted in the process.
The draft roll has drawn criticism from opposition parties. Samajwadi Party leader Ravidas Mehrotra said the revision had resulted in large-scale deletions without corresponding additions. “After SIR, 2.89 crore names have been removed from the voter list in Uttar Pradesh. The Election Commission’s responsibility is to ensure that every eligible voter is included,” he said, urging active facilitation of the inclusion process.
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav also raised concerns about deletions in Mainpuri, the Lok Sabha constituency of his wife, Dimple Yadav. In a post on X, he said, “Before the anger of the voters turns into agitation, the Election Commission should correct the voter list by taking cognisance of the valid names cut from the SIR in Mainpuri.”
Congress’s Uttar Pradesh president Ajay Rai criticised the time allotted for the revision, calling it “completely hasty” for a state of Uttar Pradesh’s size. He argued that the one-month window was insufficient and said a longer exercise, similar to that conducted in 2002–03, would have reduced pressure on booth-level officers.
Election officials have urged voters to verify their details promptly, stressing that the current list is only a draft. Similar revision exercises were recently completed in Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, where electoral rolls were shortened by about 97 lakh and 74 lakh voters respectively, while a special enumeration in Assam led to the deletion of 10.56 lakh names. The Commission has reiterated that
the claims and objections period is intended to ensure that no eligible voter is left out before the final roll is published in March.