Maharashtra SIR: 2.07 Crore Voters Face Exclusion From Draft Electoral Roll After First Phase

More than 2.07 crore registered voters in Maharashtra face potential exclusion from the state’s draft electoral rolls following the conclusion of the door-to-door enumeration phase under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) 2026 exercise. Data released by the State Election Commission (SEC) indicates that out of 9.78 crore registered voters in the state, around 21.25% remain unverified due to uncollected Enumeration Forms (EFs).

According to SEC bulletins, Booth Level Officers (BLOs) were unable to collect enumeration forms for 2,07,93,916 electors. Official breakdowns reveal that these uncollected forms comprise roughly 33.94 lakh deceased individuals, 63.61 lakh untraceable electors, 71.95 lakh voters who have permanently shifted addresses, and 1.43 lakh categorized under other discrepancies. Maharashtra SIR: 1.80 Crore Names May Be Deleted From Draft Voter List Under ASDD Category.

Urban centers recorded the steepest numbers of uncollected forms, driven primarily by rapid urbanization, high tenancy turnover, and internal migration. Nearly 45.4% of all unverified entries are concentrated across urban districts, with Thane leading the gap—where nearly 38.77% of forms remained uncollected—followed closely by Mumbai (37.57%), Mumbai Suburban (34.48%), and Pune (31.92%). In contrast, rural districts reported significantly higher completion rates.

The ongoing SIR 2026 exercise marks the first major overhaul of Maharashtra’s electoral roll since 2002. Conducted by the Election Commission of India (ECI) across 21 states and Union Territories in its third phase, the initiative aims to clean up cluttered voters' lists affected by duplicate entries and stale records accumulated over two decades.

The proposed deletions have sparked sharp political debate. Opposition leaders, including representatives from the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) and Congress, have raised objections over the verification process. Allegations have been leveled that overstretched BLOs relied on incomplete surveys, leading to eligible voters being mistakenly flagged as "permanently shifted." Election officials, however, maintained that multiple verification attempts were made in accordance with standard operating procedures. Maharashtra Records 87.79% Distribution, 60.44% Digitisation of Voter Forms Under SIR Campaign.

Voters whose names are omitted from the upcoming draft rolls will not be automatically disenfranchised. The SEC will publish the draft electoral roll on August 24, opening a one-month window for citizens to submit claims, corrections, and objections. Final updated electoral rolls are scheduled for publication later in October 2026.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 18, 2026 08:53 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).