Exercise SIR: Nine lakh names dropped from Uttarakhand’s poll list; The state now has 71.59 million voters

Photos are for representational purposes only. | Photo credit: The Hindu

Around nine thousand names were removed from the electoral roll of Uttarakhand through Special Intensive Revision (SIR). The final voter list was released on Saturday (October 3, 2026) and had 71.59 lakh voters in the state.

Talking to the media, Uttarakhand Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) BVRC Purushottam said that the final list includes 1,29,872 newly registered voters.

When the SIR exercise began in June, the state had 79,60,762 registered voters. The first draft, released on July 14, contained 71,33,785 names. The state was accepting claims and objections until August 13, while hearings and processing of cases continued until September 28, before the final list was published on October 3.

“Compared to the draft list released in July, the number of voters has increased by about 25,000 as 1,04,708 names were deleted after claims and objections, while over 1.29 lakh names were added,” Mr. Purushottam said.

After sharing gender details, the official said the final list includes 34,21,036 women, 37,37,701 men and 212 third gender voters. It includes 72,656 voters aged 18-19 years and 1,22,892 voters above 80 years. The state has 12,543 polling stations.

For those left out

Responding to concerns about those who could not make it to the final voter list, Mr. Purushottam said that people who were left out as well as those who have become eligible voters can apply by filling Form 6 either online through the ECINet application or offline through their Booth Level Officer (BLO).

The state will now launch a special drive to register absent and eligible voters after a nearly 10% drop in the electoral roll, with a large number of voters classified as “undetrievable (ASDD)”. Dehradun recorded the highest number of such voters with 1,86,008, followed by Udham Singh Nagar with 1,77,673 and Haridwar with 1,30,203.

“A special campaign to register new voters will now begin. As per the plan, the BLO will compare the current list with the pre-SIR list, identify voters who were earlier listed but are now missing and visit them at home to help eligible people fill Form 6. They will also ensure filling of forms for first-time voters and young voters and share the list with booth-level representatives of recognized political parties,” the official said. He added that Electoral Registration Officers (ERO) would then share the lists with party representatives. Special camps will also be held in hostels and labor colonies as well as for the homeless and marginalized communities.

Voting: Congress

Meanwhile, Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee senior vice-president Suryakant Dhasmana expressed displeasure with the final list of voters and demanded that the Election Commission release full assembly constituency details of voters whose names were deleted during the pre-SIR and SIR exercise.

“They deleted more than 8.5 million names from the final list, while 4.5 million names were deleted before the SIR. That means 13 million names were deleted in such a small state,” Mr. Dhasmana said.

He alleged that most of the deletions were done under what he described as “vote theft” and alleged that irregularities in Forms 6 and 7 came to light, prompting the Election Commission to turn around and raise questions about the entire exercise. He demanded the immediate restoration of the names of all deleted voters in the electoral rolls, saying the convention did not accept the additions and deletions made during the SIR exercise.

Published – 03 Oct 2026 19:47 IST