Uttar Pradesh Voter Roll Revision Sees Nearly 29 Million Names Deleted; Claims and Objections Open Till February 6

In a sweeping update to the electoral database, Uttar Pradesh has removed 2.89 crore voters—about 18.71% of its electorate—from the rolls following the completion of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list.

The state earlier had 15.44 crore registered voters, a number that has now dropped to 12.55 crore, according to the draft electoral roll released on Tuesday.

The draft was issued by the state’s Chief Electoral Officer, Navdeep Rinwa, who said the revision exercise focused on cleaning up duplications, outdated entries, and unverifiable records.

Of the 12.55 crore voters currently listed, 91.75% have already been mapped and verified through field-level checks and database reconciliation.

However, around 1.04 crore voters whose records could not be mapped during the exercise will now be issued formal notices seeking documentary proof.

These voters will be required to submit any one of 13 prescribed documents to the Electoral Registration Officer to retain their names on the final roll.

The window for claims and objections will remain open until February 6, allowing citizens to seek corrections, re-inclusion, or raise objections to entries. The final voter list is scheduled to be published on March 6, after scrutiny of all submissions.

District-Wise Impact

The revision has affected districts unevenly. Lucknow recorded the highest number of deletions, with nearly 12 lakh names removed, reflecting rapid urban migration and duplication issues common in large cities.

At the other end of the spectrum, Mahoba district saw the fewest deletions, with 85,354 names cut.

Photographs and Mapping Protocol

CEO Rinwa clarified that the photographs appearing on the draft roll are the same images that were part of the list frozen on October 27.

In cases where voters did not attach updated photographs to their enumeration forms but were successfully mapped, the older images have been retained.

Only voters who submitted new photographs during the revision will see their images updated in the final list.

How Uttar Pradesh Compares with Other States and UTs

The scale of deletions in Uttar Pradesh is among the highest in the country, though similar revision drives elsewhere have also resulted in sizable cuts:

• Andaman & Nicobar Islands: 64,000 deletions (20.61%)
• Uttar Pradesh: 2.89 crore deletions (18.71%)
• Tamil Nadu: 9.7 lakh deletions (15.12%)
• Gujarat: 73.07 lakh deletions (14.37%)
• Chhattisgarh: 27.34 lakh deletions (12.87%)
• Puducherry: 1 lakh deletions (9.78%)
• Kerala: 24.8 lakh deletions (8.64%)
• Goa: 1,00,042 deletions (8.44%)
• Madhya Pradesh: 42.74 lakh deletions (7.44%)

Broader Context

Election officials note that such intensive revisions, carried out under the supervision of the Election Commission of India, are aimed at ensuring clean, accurate, and fraud-free electoral rolls, especially ahead of major elections.

While large-scale deletions often raise political and public concern, authorities stress that the claims-and-objections phase is designed to prevent genuine voters from being disenfranchised, provided they respond within the stipulated timeframe.

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