Voter lists shrink by more than 15% since 2024 in States where SIR phase-3 draft lists are out

Since the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, voter lists of 17 States/Union Territories, where Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is under way in its third phase, have shrunk by 15.7% as per the draft rolls published by the Election Commission of India (ECI).

The cumulative total of voters in these States/UTs fell from 35,50,50,008 during the LS polls to 29,93,00,115 in the draft rolls published after the SIR. Maharashtra recorded the largest drop in absolute numbers, losing 15,896,198 electors or 17.08% in the draft phase, while Delhi and Chandigarh registered the sharpest dips in percentage at 35.89% and 31.84% respectively.

Since the LS polls and till the cut-off date for the Enumeration Phase of SIR, these States/UTs had added around 57.75 lakh voters, which took the cumulative total of voters to 36,08,07,394. Out of it, now 6.15 crore voters have been deleted as per the draft rolls.

The additions after the LS polls were heavily driven by Maharashtra which added 47.92 lakh voters, while 10 other States, including Haryana added about 9.83 lakh.

Delhi was among the remaining Six States/UTs which saw a decrease in the number of voters after the LS polls. While the national capital had 1,52,14,638 voters during LS polls, its pre-SIR rolls had 1,45,10,299 electors, a drop of more than 7 lakh. It was followed by Uttarakhand (4.7 lakh), Odisha (3.17 lakh), Chandigarh (1.44 lakh), Punjab (1.1 lakh) and Arunachal Pradesh (10,937).

Numbers could go up

The third phase of SIR is being carried out in 16 States and three Union Territories. Of these, draft rolls have been published for 17 States/Union Territories, barring those for Nagaland and Tripura which would be out on September 20 and October 21 respectively. The numbers in the final voter lists could increase as the ECI provides a window for people to submit claims and objections for additions and deletions from the draft as well as registration of new voters. The rollout of final lists will start in States soon, with Mizoram, Sikkim and Manipur taking the lead on September 6.

Interestingly, out of these 6.15 crore voters deleted in this phase of SIR, only 1.11 crore are marked dead. Among the rest, 4.52 crore are marked ‘absent’ or 49.58 crore as ‘having multiple enrolments’ and around 3 lakh in the ‘others’ category.

The SIR exercise is over in Bihar, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep. In Assam, due to legalities related to National Register of Citizens (NRC), a “special revision” was conducted.

With the third phase, the exercise would cover the entire country except Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. The SIR schedule for these States would be announced later after considering the completion of Phase-II of the Census and due consideration of weather in the upper reaches or snow bound areas, the ECI had said.