1.85 million voters were removed from the electoral rolls of Manipur in Sikkim after SIR

About 6.3% voters in Manipur and 11.2% voters in Sikkim were struck off the electoral rolls after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. In both the northeastern states, the final election photos were released on Sunday (September 6, 2026).

Before the start of the SIR exercise, Manipur had 20,93,076 voters and Sikkim had 4,71,081 voters. After the SIR, the names of 1.85 lakh voters – 1,32,456 in Manipur and 52,614 in Sikkim – were deleted from the rolls of both the states. Manipur now has 19,60,620 eligible voters while Sikkim has 4,18,467.

Before and during the SIR exercise, the Kuki-Zo group of Manipur expressed fears that members of the community displaced by the outbreak of ethnic conflict on 3 May 2023 would be wiped off the electoral rolls, although the government tried to allay these fears.

More women voters in Manipur

In Manipur, female voters (10,06,962) outnumber their male counterparts (9,53,350), with a gender ratio of 1,056 females for every 1,000 male voters. The state has 308 transgender voters.

The Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) said in a statement that the final photo electoral rolls were released in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Election Commission of India. The draft voter list released on July 5 had 19,34,399 voters.

A total of 96,985 complaints and objections filed during the period for complaints and objections were processed until the final roll. Additionally, all forms received prior to July 5th have been processed for final publication. “A total of 56,871 voters were included and a total of 30,650 voters were deleted from the draft voter list,” the statement said.

The CEO’s office said it has received 19,34,399 of the total number of voter forms generated. Altogether, 1,58,677 voters whose lists were not delivered were excluded from the draft voter list. Of these, 72,473 were marked as moved, 43,000 as deceased, 34,740 as absent, 7,394 as duplicate records, and 1,070 in other categories.

Logical inconsistencies in Sikkim

Sikkim’s office in Gangtok said the final electoral roll of the state has 4,18,467 voters after deletion of 52,614 names.

The draft voter list released in July had 4,33,294 voters, of which 3,61,159 or 83.35% were successfully mapped with their own electoral data or parental data from the previous qualifying list or the latest SIR. The remaining 72,135 voters (16.65%) could not be mapped, an official statement said.

Among the mapped voters, the Election Commission’s digital system identified 52,384 voters with “logical discrepancies”.

“A total of 1,24,519 voters, including those in the uncharted and logical irregularity categories, were issued summons to attend the hearing and prove their eligibility. After hearing and verification, 16,485 voters were found ineligible,” the statement said.

A further 324 voters were deleted via Form 7 for reasons including death or moving from address. The total number of voters struck out during the claims and objections process was 16,809.

A total of 1,982 voters were then added back to the final list after claims and objections, bringing the total number of voters from the draft list to 4,18,467.

The final list includes 2,12,534 male voters, 2,05,931 female and two belonging to the third gender.

Published – 06 Sep 2026 22:27 IST