BHOPAL: A sweeping revision of Madhya Pradesh’s electoral rolls has led to the deletion of 42.7 lakh voters, or 7.4% of the electorate, following a 44-day special intensive revision (SIR) that officials said ranks among the largest voter list clean-ups undertaken in the state.The draft electoral rolls published on Tuesday show the voter count falling from 5.7 crore before the revision to 5.3 crore – a net reduction of 42.7 lakh names after door-to-door verification across 65,014 polling booths.Election officials said the deletions included 8.4 lakh voters found to be deceased, 31.5 lakh who had shifted from their registered addresses, and 2.7 lakh duplicate entries. The scale of deletions reflects extensive demographic churn over two decades, with the stated goal of producing clean, accurate and up-to-date electoral rolls, officials said.Alongside the deletions, poll officials identified about 8.4 lakh “unmapped” voters whose details could not be linked to records from the SIR in 2003. Their names remain in the draft poll rolls for now but will be reviewed.“The unmapped voters will have to produce the required documents within seven days of receiving the notice from the BLO (booth level officer),” joint chief electoral officer Ram Pratap Singh Jadaun said. Failure to respond could result in deletion when final rolls are published.The exercise ran from Nov 4 to Dec 18, following an extension granted by the Election Commission, with more than 65,000 BLOs conducting house-to-house checks across cities, towns and villages. Enumeration forms were received from 5.31 crore electors, covering over 92% of the electorate, officials said. The drive spanned 55 districts and involved 230 electoral registration officers, 532 assistant EROs, and large-scale support from panchayat secretaries, revenue staff, Gram Rojgar Sahayaks and volunteers. Six recognised national political parties took part through 1.3 lakh booth level agents.Officials stressed that deletions remain provisional. Under revision guidelines, no name can be removed without prior notice and a speaking order from an ERO or AERO. The claims and objections window opened Tuesday and runs until Jan 22, 2026, allowing voters to seek inclusion, correction or restoration of names. Appeals may be filed before the district magistrate and, subsequently, the chief electoral officer under the Representation of the People Act, 1950.
