Significant Voter Deletions in Multiple States During Electoral Roll Revision

In a recent electoral roll revision, approximately 9.5 million voters have been removed across several Indian states, including the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Kerala. The highest deletion rate was observed in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, where over 20% of voters were struck off the draft rolls. Citizens have the opportunity to contest these removals until January 22, with final electoral rolls set to be published on February 14. This revision has raised concerns about the potential exclusion of eligible voters, particularly in Bihar, where a significant number were removed ahead of the Assembly elections. Read on for more insights into this electoral process.

By Narendra Chaudhary Dec 24, 2025, 11:58 IST

Voter List Updates Across States

In a recent update, approximately 9.5 million individuals have been removed from the draft voter lists in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Kerala as part of a special intensive electoral roll revision.

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands experienced the highest deletion rate, with around 20.6% of voters eliminated from the draft rolls, totaling 64,000 names from a voter base of 310,000.

Chhattisgarh followed with a deletion rate of 12.9%, where 2.7 million voters were removed from an electorate of 21 million.

In Kerala, 2.4 million names were excluded from a total of 27 million voters, representing about 8.7% of the electorate.

Madhya Pradesh saw the largest absolute number of deletions, with 4.27 million voters removed from a total of 57 million, which is approximately 7.4%, the lowest percentage among the four states.

These deletions are provisional, allowing citizens to contest their removal. Voters whose names have been struck off can submit claims and objections until January 22.

Electoral officials will review these applications, with final electoral rolls expected to be published on February 14.

In the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, 9,191 voters were marked deceased, 51,906 were noted as having moved or being absent, and 2,917 were found to be registered at multiple locations.

In Chhattisgarh, of the 2.73 million names removed, 1.91 million voters had changed their registered addresses, 640,000 were recorded as deceased, and 170,000 were identified as having multiple registrations.

Kerala's deletions included about 640,000 voters marked as untraceable or absent, 810,000 who had permanently relocated, 649,000 deceased voters, and 136,000 duplicate entries. Additionally, around 160,000 names fell into an 'others' category, which includes individuals who did not return enumeration forms.

In Madhya Pradesh, approximately 840,000 of those deleted were recorded as deceased, while 3.15 million were absent or had moved, and 270,000 were registered in multiple locations.

Besides these states, the special intensive revision of electoral rolls is also taking place in eight other states and Union Territories.

Overall, around 36 million electors have been removed from the rolls across 11 states and Union Territories during this revision process.

The draft electoral roll for Uttar Pradesh is set to be published on December 31.

In Bihar, where the revision was completed prior to the Assembly elections in November, at least 4.7 million voters were excluded from the final electoral roll.

Concerns were raised in Bihar regarding the potential removal of eligible voters, leading several petitioners to approach the Supreme Court.