Telangana SIR: Over 27 Lakh Voters May Be Deleted From Draft Electoral Rolls

Published 27 July 2026 · local

Telangana SIR: Over 27 Lakh Voters May Be Deleted From Draft Electoral Rolls Published By, Last Updated: July 27, 2026, 10:38 IST Voters identified as

Telangana SIR: Over 27 Lakh Voters May Be Deleted From Draft Electoral Rolls Published By, Last Updated: July 27, 2026, 10:38 IST Voters identified as dead, shifted, untraceable or enrolled elsewhere may be removed as Telangana's electoral roll revision continues. Rapid Read The revision exercise will continue until August 3, while the draft electoral rolls are scheduled to be released on August 10. (PTI/File) More than 27.7 lakh voters in Telangana have been identified as deceased, permanently shifted, untraceable, absent or already registered at another location during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, The Times of India has reported, citing data from the state’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) office. The report said these names are expected to be left out of the draft electoral rolls unless the verification process finds otherwise.

The number could rise further as nearly 60 lakh enumeration forms are yet to be digitised. The revision exercise will continue until August 3, while the draft electoral rolls are scheduled to be released on August 10, according to the report. As quoted by TOI, Telangana Chief Electoral Officer C Sudarshan Reddy said the identified voters include 7.28 lakh people reported as deceased, 1.38 lakh who are untraceable or absent, 14.85 lakh who have permanently shifted, and around four lakh who are already enrolled elsewhere. The report added that around 3.38 crore enumeration forms were distributed across the state, of which 2.49 crore (73.7%) had been digitised as of July 25. Around 60 lakh forms remain to be processed, meaning the final number of deletions may change once digitisation is complete.

According to the report, the CEO attributed the slower progress in cities to some voters preferring to keep their names on electoral rolls in their native villages rather than transfer them to urban constituencies. Among districts, Hyderabad has recorded the lowest digitisation rate at 50.7%, followed by Medchal-Malkajgiri (55%) and Rangareddy (59%), the report said. Jangaon has emerged as the top-performing district, with 89% of enumeration forms digitised. The newspaper further reported that election authorities have identified around 2.36 lakh entries with similar demographic details, which could indicate duplicate registrations. Another 2.1 lakh records linked to voters who are absent, shifted or deceased have also been flagged. These cases will undergo verification before any final decision is taken on the electoral rolls, the report added. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit About the Author Nitya Thirumalai Nitya Thirumalai, News Editor at News18.com, writes on Indian and global politics as well as Formula 1.