Kumar Bahukhandi
Election officials scrutinise enumeration forms to clean and update UP electoral rolls. (PTI Photo)
Over 1.29 crore voters marked shifted during Special Intensive Revision exercise
New Delhi: Permanent migration has emerged as the biggest cause of electoral roll discrepancies in Uttar Pradesh during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), with official data showing it accounts for nearly 1.30 crore of the 2.88 crore “uncollectable” enumeration forms identified so far.
As per data compiled up to December 27, 2025, election officials recorded 1,29,77,472 cases of voters permanently shifting, which they said reflects large-scale inter-district and inter-state movement, particularly in urban and semi-urban areas. This category alone accounts for 8.40 per cent of the state’s electorate.
The second-largest category is untraceable or absent electors, totalling 79,52,190 cases, or 5.15 per cent of the electorate. Officials attributed this largely to temporary migration, frequent changes in residence and inaccurate addresses.
Deaths of registered voters accounted for 46,23,796 forms, or 2.99 per cent, pointing to outdated entries in the rolls, particularly in rural areas. Another 25,47,207 electors, or 1.65 per cent, were found enrolled elsewhere, while 7,74,472 forms, or 0.50 per cent, were categorised under “other reasons”, including incomplete or incorrect details.
District-level trends indicate that urban centres such as Gautam Buddh Nagar, Ghaziabad, Lucknow, Kanpur Nagar, Agra and Varanasi recorded a high share of uncollectable forms due to shifting, with officials saying the figure crossed one-fifth of the electorate in some districts. Border and migration-prone districts, including Bahraich, Shravasti, Balrampur, Siddharthnagar and Maharajganj, reported a higher share of voters marked untraceable or absent.
Election authorities said the classification of cases into death, migration, duplication and other reasons would help remove ineligible and duplicate entries and improve the accuracy of voter rolls ahead of future elections.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission has revised the SIR schedule in Uttar Pradesh. Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa said in a statement on December 30 that the draft electoral roll will be published on January 6, 2026, and the final roll on March 6, 2026. Claims and objections will be invited from January 6 to February 6, while disposal of claims and objections and decisions on enumeration forms will continue until February 27, before publication of the final roll.
