The Uttar Pradesh draft voter list, which will be released on December 31, is likely to include the names of about 12.55 million voters, of which nearly 2.89 million were struck off the pre-SIR voter list. Excluded persons will have the opportunity to object to the erasure beginning Jan. 1, the state’s chief elections official said Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025.
Among the 12.55 billion voters who have made it to the draft list, more than 1 billion are in the ‘unmapped’ category, which means they will be sent notices to provide self-attested documents from the 12 list mandated by the Election Commission of India (ECI) to be shifted to the ‘mapped’ category, Chief.CELEO told Nav.CEEO
The nearly 52-day special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls with the theme ‘Shuddh Nirvachak Namavali – Majboot Loktantra’ (Clean Electoral Roll – Strong Democracy) began in the state on November 4 and ended after two extensions on December 26 with a truncated draft electoral roll.
“From January 1, the EC will start a month-long process during which each of the nearly 2.89 lakh voters, 2,88,75,000 to be precise, whose names have been deleted for various reasons and want to contest the event, can re-apply by filling Form 6,” Mr Rinwa said. “Form 6 can also be used by new voters to apply,” he said.
The deletion of 2,88,75,000 names, which is about 18.70% of the total 15,44,00,000 voters who were part of the pre-SIR voter list, was done due to various reasons such as death, change of residence or registration as voters elsewhere, he said.
Most of the wipeouts were reported from major urban centres, including Lucknow, Ghaziabad, Prayagraj and Kanpur, the officer said.
Voter Verification
“Untraceable or missing voters who also figure among the deleted would have to prove (inclusion) in the 2003 SIR list or any of the documents prescribed by the ECI to get their names added to the voter list,” he added.
Between January 1 and 31, Mr. Rinwa said, the ECI will also invite objections to the inclusion of names worth nearly Rs 12.55 lakh crore in the draft voter list. These objections can be submitted by completing form 7.
If the objection to the inclusion of the name in the draft list is found to be justified, it can be removed from the list.
Similarly, if a person in the “not charted” category does not provide relevant documents such as a birth certificate or proof of residence, a copy of the civil registry, passport or school report with the date of birth, they may not make it to the final list either.
“More than 91% of voters to be included in the draft electoral roll are mapped. Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) would start sending notices to the remaining more than 1 million unmapped voters, asking them to provide the relevant documents.
“This process will continue until February 2026,” Mr Rinwa said.
He said that less than 8 lakh people did not return the forms given to them by the cabin level officers and thus got on the list of deleted names.
“We can’t force them to fill out their forms,” he said.
A political slugfest
Meanwhile, the deletion of names from the electoral roll has sparked political unrest in Uttar Pradesh, the country’s most populous state.
Opposition parties, particularly the Samajwadi Party and the Congress, have raised concerns about the SIR exercise, saying it is being tailored to suit the ruling BJP.
The BJP dismissed the opposition’s pitch as “bogus” and an attempt to protect “ghuspaithiyas (intruders)”.
Published – 28 Dec 2025 22:02 IST
