Uttarakhand recorded a 13.4% decline in voter numbers during the Special Intensive Revision exercise, a report released in Dehradun on Saturday showed. Activists Anoop Nautiyal and Praveen Upreti said, "When citizens cannot be sure their names remain on the rolls, democracy is weakened." The state electorate fell by 1,107,695 voters.
DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand has recorded the steepest decline in voter numbers among the 10 states where the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise has been conducted, with its electorate shrinking by 13.4%, according to a report released in Dehradun on Saturday.
The roll fell by 1,107,695 from 82,66,644 at the 2022 Assembly elections to 71.59 lakh in the final list published on October 3, 2026. Social activists Anoop Nautiyal and Praveen Upreti released the study, titled "SIR and Uttarakhand's Changing Voter Landscape Between the 2022 and 2027 Assembly Elections," on Saturday at the Dehradun Press Club.
It examines changes in electoral rolls and the scale and distribution of deletions ahead of the state's 2027 Assembly elections.
The report says nearly 18.89 lakh voters were added to Uttarakhand's rolls between 2012 and 2022, making the subsequent reduction striking. It urges authorities to publish a transparent breakdown of names removed, distinguishing deaths, migration, duplicate entries and other corrections.
Without that information, it says, the causes and implications of the fall cannot be properly assessed. Among the other states cited in the report, the decline was about 11.4% in Uttar Pradesh, 8.79% in Tamil Nadu, 6.88% in West Bengal, 9.18% in Goa, 5.28% in Manipur, 0.7% in Punjab, and 1.12% in Kerala.
Bihar and Assam recorded increases by comparison. The authors have urged the Election Commission of India to release data using consistent standards and explain why Uttarakhand's decline was the steepest.
.Uttarakhand voter roll changes put Muslim-influenced seats under political spotlight.
Within Uttarakhand, the decline was uneven. Dehradun district lost about 3.03 lakh voters, a 20.22% fall, the largest percentage drop among districts highlighted. Pauri Garhwal recorded 14.89%, Pithoragarh 13.61% and Tehri Garhwal 13.14%.
At constituency level, Dehradun Cantonment fell 34.19%, Rajpur Road 32.64% and Dharampur 27.59%. Its gender analysis found that women's voter numbers declined by a higher percentage than men's in 36 of the state's 70 Assembly constituencies.
A similar pattern appeared in Udham Singh Nagar, Haridwar, Tehri Garhwal, Uttarkashi and Almora. The report also notes that Dwarahat was the only constituency in 2022 where women outnumbered men; the 2027 roll analysis shows no constituency with a female majority.
Nautiyal said the figures raise questions about transparency, accountability and public confidence. "When citizens cannot be sure their names remain on the rolls, or must navigate a complicated process to protect their right to vote, democracy is weakened," he said.