3 min readNew DelhiFeb 22, 2026 08:22 AM IST
First published on: Feb 22, 2026 at 07:06 AM IST
In the second phase of Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) so far, the voters’ list in nine states/UTs has shrunk by 8%, with Gujarat seeing the highest deletions (13.4% or 68.12 lakh) and Kerala the lowest (3.2% or 8.97 lakh) among the states. Overall, Andaman and Nicobar Islands have seen the highest voter deletions at nearly 17% (52,364).
The final electoral rolls in six states/UTs — Chhattisgarh, Goa, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Andaman and Nicobar Islands — were published on Saturday.
The Election Commission kicked off this round of SIR exercise on October 27 last year in nine states and three UTs. Out of those, the final electoral rolls in Gujarat, Lakshadweep and Puducherry were published last week, and those in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh are scheduled to be published on February 23, February 28 and April 10 respectively.
The number of electors in the nine states and UTs where final rolls have been published so far went down from 21.45 crore on October 27, when the SIR was announced, to 19.33 crore in the draft rolls published in December and January. The final rolls show the total number of electors at 19.75 crore, after a net decrease of 1.7 crore or nearly 8% voters. This number is higher than the 6% deletion seen in Bihar, where the EC first carried out the SIR in June last year.
Chhattisgarh, Goa, Puducherry, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Kerala and Lakshadweep have seen 11.77%, 10.75%, 7.57%, 5.97%, 5.74%, 3.22% and 0.36% decrease respectively. The final rolls take into account the addition of new voters as well as the deletion of ineligible voters.
“Updation of electoral roll is a continuous process. Form 6 (for addition), Form 7 (for deletion), Form 8 (for changes) can still be filled till the last date of nomination,” the EC said in a statement, referring to the deadline for new registrations in poll-bound states (Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Puducherry and West Bengal).
As opposed to the annual Special Summary Revision, in which the electoral rolls are updated with additions and deletions, the SIR entails preparation of the rolls afresh. The EC asks all the electors to submit enumeration forms and some categories of electors are asked to submit documents to prove their eligibility, including citizenship. The poll panel’s decision to conduct the SIR has been challenged in the Supreme Court, which has reserved its judgment in the matter.