EC Revision Exercise May Delete 18 Million Voters Across Maharashtra
Data released by the Election Commission on Wednesday revealed that around 18.46 percent, or 18 million registered voters across Maharashtra, could be deleted from electoral rolls during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. In Thane, election officials recorded the lowest percentage of enumeration completion, citing a large migrant population and daily commuters to Mumbai as major challenges in tracking electors down.
According to the Election Commission, out of 9,78,54,049 registered electors in Maharashtra, enumeration for 7,60,98,153 voters has been completed. However, the process could not be completed for 1,80,60,697 electors—representing 18.46 percent of the total voter base—because they were dead, duplicate, not traceable at registered addresses, or shifted elsewhere. The deadline to complete the SIR exercise is August 17, with draft electoral rolls scheduled for publication on August 24.
Chief Election Officer S Chockalingam stated that the enumeration forms of 18.46 percent of electors could not be filled because they were not found at their registered addresses. He clarified that these electors cannot be termed "left out," but confirmed they will not be part of the draft electoral roll published on August 24. He urged electors and booth-level agents appointed by political parties to contact election officers if eligible names need to be included in the draft roll.
Across the state, there are also 36,95,199 electors, or 3.78 percent, whose SIR process is yet to be completed. Some of these voters are expected to be included in the rolls when the drafts are published.
In neighbouring Mumbai, approximately 29.61 percent of 10.38 million electors are untraceable and expected to be deleted from draft rolls. Sion Koliwada recorded the highest percentage of untraceable voters at 43.21 percent, followed by Mankhurd-Shivaji Nagar at 42.25 percent, Worli at 40.43 percent, Malabar Hill at 39.81 percent, Mumbadevi at 39.3 percent, and Colaba at 37.68 percent. Meanwhile, Bhandup West, Borivali, and Mulund reported the lowest figures at 12.91 percent, 14.99 percent, and 16.74 percent respectively.
Chockalingam explained that high deletion numbers after SIR exercises are a common phenomenon seen in other major cities, such as Chennai at 26 percent and Bengaluru at 50 percent. He noted that Thane has the lowest completion percentage because of its high number of migrants and residents who travel to Mumbai daily for work, making them difficult for officers to locate. He added that some electors refused state registration because they were registered in other states.
The exercise has drawn criticism from Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray, who alleged dishonesty in the enumeration process. Thackeray claimed that booths favourable to ruling parties recorded the highest enumeration, while opposition-dominated areas recorded higher numbers of shifted and absent voters. He appealed to citizens to record videos if booth-level officers failed to visit their homes and share them on social media.
