UP voter list revision: Why 1.4 crore voters will receive notices after SIR exercise

Voters whose names did not appear in that roll were asked to furnish details of their parents or grandparents to establish continuity, a verification exercise termed as “mapping”.

The Uttar Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Navdeep Rinwa on Tuesday said that around 1.4 crore voters, nearly 8% of the electorate, will be issued notices after their details could not be fully verified during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls.

The draft roll, released after the SIR exercise, contains 12.55 crore voters, down from 15.44 crore voters listed as of October 27, 2025.

Addressing a press conference, Rinwa said that verification, known as “mapping”, was completed for about 91% of voters, while the remaining cases could not be finalised.

“In UP, about 91% of voters have been mapped, which is only in the context of the 12.55 crore voters. Around 8% or 1.4 crore voters have not been mapped, and notices will be sent to such people,” Rinwa noted. “The notice period has started from January 6, and the notices will specify the documents that can be submitted as proof for inclusion in the final electoral roll to be published in March," he stated.

Rinwa explained that the enumeration forms collected details with reference to the last intensive electoral roll prepared in 2003. Voters whose names did not appear in that roll were asked to furnish details of their parents or grandparents to establish continuity, a verification exercise termed as “mapping”.

He said political parties were briefed on the process during meetings held earlier in the day. “We told them that their first task is to check voters’ names. Every voter should also check the draft roll. If their name is missing, they must fill Form 6, and corrections can also be applied for,” Rinwa said.

According to the CEO, Booth-Level Officers (BLOs) will read out the draft electoral roll in their respective polling areas on January 11. Claims and objections will be accepted from January 6 to February 6, while their disposal will take place between January 26 and February 27. The final electoral roll will be published on March 6.

Further, Rinwa clarified that individuals who turned 18 years of age on or before January 1, 2026, or whose date of birth is before January 1, 2008, are eligible for inclusion in the final roll. Those who will attain the age of 18 by October 1, 2026, may also apply using Form 6, though their names will be added only after they become eligible and not in the March 6 list.

He also said that over 15 lakh Form 6 applications are currently pending scrutiny or uploading in the system.

Detailing the changes, Rinwa said the draft roll reflects 2.89 crore deletions, accounting for 18.7% of the electorate, primarily due to deaths, permanent migration, duplicate registrations and non-receipt of enumeration forms.

Of these deletions, 2.17 crore voters (14.06%) were found to have shifted residence or were absent from their registered locations, 46.23 lakh voters (2.99%) were identified as deceased, and 25.57 lakh voters (1.65%) were registered at more than one location.

“The 2.89 crore names that could not be included are those electors who could not be traced by Booth-Level Officers or whose enumeration forms were not received,” Rinwa said. “These voters had either permanently migrated, were missing or absent from the polling area concerned, or did not submit forms by December 26, 2025.”

Given the scale of deletions, Uttar Pradesh sought a 15-day extension from the Election Commission. “The field exercise ended on December 26, and during the extended period we were able to add another 8 lakh voters,” he added.

Rinwa highlighted that the SIR exercise was one of the largest undertaken in the state, involving over 7 lakh officials and agents. This included District Election Officers in all 75 districts, 403 Electoral Registration Officers, 2,042 Assistant Electoral Registration Officers, 1,62,486 Booth-Level Officers, and 5,76,611 Booth-Level Agents.

He said the release of the draft roll was delayed partly due to the parallel exercise of rationalising polling stations, with the voter cap reduced from 1,500 to 1,200 voters per booth. As a result, 15,030 new polling stations were created across Uttar Pradesh.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), meanwhile, held a meeting via video conferencing on Tuesday to review the SIR exercise, as per party sources cited by PTI. The meeting was attended by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, BJP state president Pankaj Chaudhary, state organisation general secretary Dharmpal, along with all BJP MPs and MLAs from Uttar Pradesh.

According to sources cited in the PTI report, the leadership discussed a targeted outreach campaign to ensure that eligible voters whose names were omitted from the first SIR list are assisted in getting them restored. Legislators have been asked to verify deleted names in their constituencies and help voters submit the required applications.

The BJP also reviewed coordination between party workers, elected representatives and the administration to address grievances related to the SIR process within stipulated timelines. As per sources, the meeting is expected to shape the party’s organisational and outreach strategy on the issue in the days ahead.

Chief Minister Adityanath had also discussed the SIR exercise with senior central leaders in Delhi on Monday.