India

Election body deletes nearly 8% voters in SIR cleanup across nine states and UTs

Nearly 8% of voters were removed from final electoral rolls in nine states and UTs during the second phase of the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR). The process trimmed over 1.7 crore names to ensure cleaner lists ahead of key polls.

By Newsroom

Election body deletes nearly 8% voters in SIR cleanup across nine states and UTs — source; files

Published: February 22, 2026, 4:40 pm

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Newsroom, February 22, 2026: The Election Commission of India completed the second phase of its Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in nine states and Union Territories, resulting in a net deletion of 1,70,28,514 voters or 7.93%.

Voter numbers fell from 21.45 crore on October 27, 2025 (when the phase began) to 19.75 crore in the final published rolls.

The affected areas include Gujarat (highest drop at 13.40%), Chhattisgarh (11.77%), Goa (10.76%), Andaman and Nicobar Islands (16.87%), Puducherry (7.5%), Madhya Pradesh (5.96%), Rajasthan (5.74%), Kerala (3.22%), and Lakshadweep (0.36%).

Final rolls for Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Goa, and Andaman and Nicobar were published February 21; others earlier. Three more West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu—await final publication soon.