The Election Commission of India (ECI) did not publicly disclose details of 16.18 lakh applications for inclusion in Uttar Pradesh’s electoral rolls before the draft Special Intensive Revision (SIR) was published, potentially preventing public scrutiny of the additions, an investigation by The Reporters’ Collective has found.
The investigation raises questions over the transparency of the electoral roll revision process, particularly regarding who the newly added voters were, where they were enrolled and whether their eligibility was properly verified.
According to The Reporters’ Collective, electoral law requires polling booth-wise lists of claims and objections to be published on the website of the state Chief Electoral Officer. The rules also provide for access to individual application forms, without photographs. However, the details of 16.18 lakh applications submitted before the publication of the draft roll were not available in Uttar Pradesh’s publicly accessible electoral records, the investigation said.
To examine the voter additions, The Reporters’ Collective worked with independent technology experts and analysed 71.38 lakh Form 6 applications published by the Uttar Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer across all 403 Assembly constituencies. Form 6 is used by individuals seeking inclusion in the electoral roll.
The analysis found that the ECI added 84.3 lakh voters to the final electoral roll, 12.92 lakh more than the number of Form 6 applications disclosed on the official website.
The Reporters’ Collective noted that the number of voters added should correspond to the applications submitted, since Form 6 is required for enrolment. While examining official ECI communications to understand the discrepancy, the investigation found a March 7 press release referring to another 16.18 lakh applications that had been submitted before the draft electoral roll was published on January 6, 2026.
However, the details of these applications, including their distribution across Assembly constituencies and polling booths, were not publicly disclosed, according to the investigation.
The findings come against the backdrop of a large-scale deletion of names during the SIR process. The draft roll removed around 2.89 crore voters, representing approximately 18.7% of Uttar Pradesh’s pre-revision electorate of 15.44 crore. The deleted voters were categorised as absent, shifted, dead or duplicate.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa had earlier acknowledged that some voters removed from the draft roll were applying for re-enrolment. At a press conference in February, he said that those removed from the draft rolls were among those submitting Form 6 applications.
The Reporters’ Collective further calculated that if the undisclosed 16.18 lakh applications are included, the approval rate for inclusion applications would be around 96.27%.
The investigation said a senior ECI official told it that approval rates in other states generally ranged between 60% and 70%. In West Bengal, which also underwent SIR during the same period, the approval rate was approximately 18.5%, according to the report.
When questioned about the absence of records, Rinwa reportedly told The Reporters’ Collective, “We don’t offer consultancy services to resolve your doubts or queries,” before ending the call.
He also rejected the investigation’s interpretation of the data, saying, “There is no mismatch in our data. The mismatch is in your interpretation.”
The Reporters’ Collective said it reviewed the Uttar Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer’s website, X account and press conference records but could not find detailed information on the 16.18 lakh applications. It said neither Rinwa nor the ECI responded to its subsequent written questions before the investigation was published.
The findings therefore raise questions about the disclosure of electoral roll data during the SIR process and whether the information made available to the public was sufficient for independent scrutiny of voter additions.
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