Gujarat completes SIR; focus shifts to draft voter list as 67.98 lakh voters remain unmapped

Gujarat has completed its Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, but the spotlight has now moved to the draft voter list after the State Election Commission found that 67.98 lakh voters could not be mapped to earlier records. These names appear in the 2025 rolls but do not match entries from the 2002 list, requiring voters to submit documents to retain their registration.

Large-scale verification carried out

According to the Commission, 5.08 crore forms were distributed statewide during the SIR drive, of which 4.32 crore were verified by booth-level officers.

Officials found 1,61,55,411 voters present in both the 2002 and 2025 lists, while another 2,03,15,249 names were verified by matching the names of parents or grandparents.

However, 67,98,286 voters appeared only in the 2025 list and could not be traced to the 2002 rolls. These voters must now submit valid proof to remain on the electoral list.

The Commission also acknowledged that forms belonging to 73.61 lakh voters are still missing. District-level meetings will be held in phases, and the names of voters whose forms are untraceable will be published on the Commission’s website.

Key findings from the SIR process

The verification exercise revealed several major discrepancies:

17,90,590 voters were found to be deceased.

10,01,522 voters were not found at their registered address.

39,90,387 voters were identified as having permanently migrated.

Surat recorded the highest number of deceased voters at 1,45,155, and also topped the list for permanent migration, with 8.68 lakh voters having moved. Ahmedabad district reported 8,24,789 migrated voters. In addition, details of 4.21 lakh senior citizens are undergoing reverification.

Concerns over forms filed for NRIs and foreign citizens

Although the SIR process has concluded, the Election Commission has continued to receive complaints that forms were submitted for individuals who have settled abroad, including those who now hold foreign citizenship.

Relatives are believed to have completed the forms on their behalf, and the Commission is expected to look into these irregularities.

Duplicate entries remain a challenge

Duplicate voter records continue to be a major concern in Gujarat. The opposition has raised questions over voters registered in multiple constituencies. The Commission has so far deleted 11.58 lakh duplicate entries, and advanced software will now be used to identify more such cases.

Under the law, voters registered in more than one constituency face imprisonment and fines. This has prompted several individuals to voluntarily approach officials to remove duplicate registrations.

Voter numbers likely to shift across constituencies

With lakhs of forms now verified and many names expected to be deleted—particularly in Ahmedabad and neighbouring districts—significant changes in voter strength are expected across several Assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies.

Preliminary assessments indicate that voter counts across Gujarat’s 33 districts may decline by anywhere between 33,000 and 3.45 lakh, depending on the extent of deletions and corrections that follow the scrutiny of the draft roll.