Uttarakhand voter list shrinks by 800,000 in major electoral roll update

Uttarakhand's massive voter cleanup

Uttarakhand has purged more than 800,000 names from its voter lists after a massive clean-up campaign, leaving the state with a final electorate of 7.15 million.

The final electoral roll, released on Saturday by state election officials, marks the end of a Special Intensive Revision campaign ordered by the Election Commission of India. The final figure of 7,158,949 voters is a steep drop from the 7,960,762 names registered on the state's preliminary list back in June.

The pruning has stripped away duplicate entries, deceased voters, and those who have moved out of the state, using 1 July 2026 as the qualifying eligibility date.

Where the voters went

The bulk of the deletions happened during the initial phase of the clean-up. When officials published a draft voter list on 14 July, the count had plummeted by 826,977 names, down to 7,133,785.

These deleted entries were flagged by officials as absent, shifted, deceased, or duplicate records.

Between mid-July and late September, election officials ran a second phase to handle fresh claims and objections. This final window saw a slight recovery in numbers, adding a net 25,164 voters to the roll before the final publication.

During this revision period, the Election Commission processed 146,511 new voter applications. Officials approved 139,872 of these registrations and rejected 16,639.

At the same time, they dealt with 96,704 challenges to existing entries. Officials rejected the vast majority of these objections, accepting only 7,522 deletions. However, they separately declared another 97,186 individuals ineligible, resulting in a total of 104,708 removals during the final phase of the campaign.

The new demographic mix

The finalised list of 7.15 million voters includes:

• 3,737,701 men
• 3,421,036 women
• 212 third-gender voters

The updated registry also highlights some shifting demographics. It includes 72,656 young voters aged between 18 and 19 who will be voting for the first time, alongside 122,892 elderly voters aged over 80.

Regionally, the plain districts continue to hold the bulk of the state’s voting power. Haridwar is the largest constituency with 1,245,458 voters, followed closely by Dehradun with 1,194,797 and Udham Singh Nagar with 1,147,030.

By contrast, the mountainous districts have much smaller electorates. Rudraprayag has the fewest voters at 182,436, followed by Champawat with 190,988 and Bageshwar with 205,689.

What to do if you are off the list

With more than 800,000 names removed across the state, officials are urging citizens to verify that they are still registered.

The finalised list is available to search online through the ECI portal or the Uttarakhand Chief Electoral Officer's website. Hard copies are also available at local district offices and through local Booth Level Officers.

For anyone who finds their name has been mistakenly left off the final roll, the door is not completely closed. Omitted residents can still submit a registration request by filing Form 6 online via the ECI Net mobile app, or by getting in touch with their local booth officer.