India's Voter Roll Revision Deletes Over 5 Crore Names

The Election Commission of India has completed the second phase of its Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls across 12 states and union territories, resulting in the removal of more than 5 crore names from voter lists and marking one of the largest cleanup efforts in the country's electoral history. Announced on October 27, 2025, the exercise covered regions with nearly 51 crore electors and concluded with the publication of final rolls in Uttar Pradesh on April 10, 2026, reducing the total to about 45.8 crore voters, a decline of roughly 10 percent.

In West Bengal, the revision drew particular scrutiny ahead of assembly elections scheduled for April 23 and 29, with approximately 89 lakh names deleted from the rolls. Officials attributed the changes to the identification of discrepancies such as entries for deceased individuals, duplicate registrations, multiple voters at single addresses, migrated persons still listed, underage inclusions, inconsistent demographic data, identical photos across identities, and unverifiable addresses. The state's 2,216-kilometer border with Bangladesh amplified concerns, as districts like North 24 Parganas and Murshidabad reported higher...