The Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, which began in June last year, has led to over 13 crore names being deleted from the draft rolls in 30 States/ Union Territories so far, with Delhi and Maharashtra draft rolls published on Monday showing a cut of 32.8% and 21.1%, respectively.

According to data released by the Chief Electoral Officers of Delhi and Maharashtra, the total number of electors dropped from 1.45 crore pre-SIR to 97.53 lakh in the draft roll, and 9.78 crore to 7.71 crore, respectively. This brings the total deletions in the third phase of the SIR in 17 States/ UTs to 6.15 crore so far.

The EC had announced the third phase of the SIR on May 14, to be held in 16 States and three UTs. So far, draft rolls in 17 of those States/ UTs have been published, while the enumeration phase is scheduled to start in two (Nagaland and Tripura) over the next two months.

Story continues below this ad

In Maharashtra, a CEO office statement showed that 3.56% of the electors were marked deceased, 15.78% permanently shifted/ absent/ others and 1.81% enrolled at multiple places, leading to their names being deleted from the draft roll.

In Delhi, the data showed that almost a third (29.86%) of electors were marked absent/ shifted/ others, 1.95% deceased, and 0.98% enrolled at multiple places.

As per the EC’s schedule, those incorrectly deleted in the draft roll can apply for inclusion in the final roll over the next one month.

The EC had started the SIR with Bihar in June last year. The second round was announced in October 2025, covering nine states and three UTs.

Story continues below this ad

In the third phase, the EC covered the rest of the country, barring Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, where it said the SIR would be held at a later date due to the ongoing Census work and weather conditions, and Assam, where it announced that it would not conduct an SIR until the pending National Register of Citizens was published in the state.

So far, the SIR has led to the deletion of 13.37 crore names in the draft rolls across the three phases or a 14.1% deletion from pre-SIR rolls. Delhi has recorded the highest deletions so far, at 32.80%, followed by 29.60% in Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, 21.70% in Telangana, 21.10% in Maharashtra, and 20.60% in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, according to EC data.

For the past two decades, the EC had not conducted intensive revisions (where the electoral rolls are prepared afresh), opting to conduct annual and pre-poll special summary revisions instead, where additions and deletions were made to existing rolls.

In the SIR, the EC evolved a new procedure that requires all registered electors to submit enumeration forms within a one-month enumeration phase, “map” themselves with their names or their parents’ names in the roll of the last intensive revision that was held in the early 2000s, and submit documents to establish their eligibility.

Story continues below this ad

A batch of petitions had challenged the EC’s June 24, 2025 order of the SIR in the Supreme Court, questioning the commission’s powers and process adopted in the SIR. The Supreme Court upheld the SIR order in its judgment in May this year.