The Election Commission of India has excluded millions of names from draft electoral rolls during the third phase of its Special Intensive Revision [1, 2].
These deletions are significant because they affect the eligibility of millions of citizens to vote in upcoming elections if they fail to rectify their status. The process aims to remove duplicate, ineligible, or outdated entries to ensure the integrity of the voting process [1, 6].
In Maharashtra, the draft list excludes 2.07 crore voters [1], which represents approximately 21.16% of the state's electors [4]. The Election Commission said these names are left out of the draft and are not yet permanently deleted [2].
The impact is more pronounced in the National Capital Territory of Delhi. Approximately 47.56 lakh voters were excluded from the draft roll [3], accounting for 32.78% of the Delhi electorate [3]. This means roughly one in three voters in the capital is currently at risk of losing their voting rights [3].
These regional figures are part of a larger national effort. Across 16 states and three union territories, the third phase of the revision has seen over 6 crore deletions [1]. Other reports indicate that more than 1.5 crore names have been deleted in this phase so far [6].
The draft rolls were published on Aug. 24, 2026 [3, 7]. The Election Commission has provided a window for citizens to contest these exclusions. Voters whose names are missing can file claims and objections until Sept. 30, 2026 [7, 8].
Officials said the Special Intensive Revision is necessary to update the rolls. This process involves verifying the current residency and eligibility of voters to prevent fraud, and administrative errors in the electoral system [1, 6].
“The draft list excludes 2.07 crore voters in Maharashtra.”
The scale of these deletions, particularly the exclusion of nearly a third of Delhi's electorate, highlights the administrative challenge of maintaining accurate voter registries in high-migration urban areas. While the Election Commission frames this as a necessary cleanup to remove 'ghost' voters and duplicates, the high percentage of exclusions places the burden of proof on the citizen to reclaim their right to vote before the September deadline.
