SIR Draft Rolls Cut Electorate to 817.9 Million, Near 2015 Level: Report

States heading to assembly polls have also recorded a high number of exclusions in their draft electoral rolls, the report said, citing the example of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab.

The Wire Staff

States heading to assembly polls have also recorded a high number of exclusions in their draft electoral rolls, the report said, citing the example of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab.

sir draft rolls cut electorate to 817 9 million near 2015 level report

A representative image of voters in Odisha, during the SIR in the state. Photo: Madhu Sudan Chatterjee/The Wire.

New Delhi: According to data from states and Union Territories where draft rolls have been published as part of the special intensive revision (SIR), the number of voters has fallen to 2015 levels, Business Standard has reported.

The number of voters in these states and UTs was 766 million in 2014. The figure rose to 928 million in 2024 and then 952 million before the SIR was conducted. However, the electorate has fallen to 817.9 million after the deletions as part of the SIR, the report said, adding that the 2015 electorate stood at 816.9 million.

According to the report, 21 states and UTs recorded an increase in their electorate between the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the period preceding the SIR, while10 recorded a decline. In seven states and UTs, however, the number of voters deleted were more than 10% of their respective electorates in both these groups, the report said.

Citing the example of certain states, the report said that Maharashtra saw a 5.6% increase in its electorate in this period but excluded 21% of its voters in the draft rolls after the SIR, in Gujarat, the number of voters increased by 5.5%, while 14% were excluded and in Tamil Nadu, the increase was by 2.6% and exclusion 15%.

In the second group, where the electorate has declined, Chandigarh saw a 27% fall in its electorate while 40% electors were excluded from the draft rolls. In Nagaland, the electorate declined by 9.6% while 11.7% were excluded and in Uttarakhand, the number of voters fell by 5.7% while 10.4% were excluded, the report said.

Data also showed that post-SIR draft deletions,Maharashtra saw a 1.4% fall in electors from 2014, while Tamil Nadu recorded a 1% increase and Gujarat saw a rise of around 9% over the same period. Among UTs, Chandigarh recorded an 11% decline, Uttarakhand saw a 4.9% increase, and Delhi registered a fall of around 16% in electors between 2014 and post-SIR draft deletions, the report said.

The report also noted that in the 21 states and UTs where the electorate grew the given period, the increase ranged from 0.5-5.6% while draft exclusions were between 5-21%.

States heading to assembly polls have also recorded a high number of exclusions in their draft electoral rolls, the report said, citing the example of Uttar Pradesh with an exclusion rate of 18.6%, Uttarakhand at 10.4% and Punjab at 9.6%.

This article went live on October first, two thousand twenty six, at thirty-four minutes past five in the evening.

The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.