Assam draft electoral roll after Special Revision records 1.35% growth in voters

GUWAHATI: Assam’s draft electoral roll has registered a 1.35% increase in the number of voters over the previous electoral roll published in January 2025, the state’s chief electoral officer (CEC) said in a statement on Tuesday.

The statement comes against the backdrop of the election watchdog marking 1.06 million names for deletion from Assam’s electoral roll following a special revision (SR) exercise that was carried out between November and December this year.

The poll panel released the integrated draft electoral roll for the state on December 27, following a house-to-house (H2H) verification drive conducted by block-level officers (BLOs) across the state’s 126 assembly constituencies from November 22 to December 20.

People can now file claims and objections until January 22. The final electoral roll will be published on February 10 ahead of state elections expected to be held in March-April 2026.

Citing data from the draft electoral roll, Tuesday’s statement said Assam has 1,25,72,583 (12.57 million) male electors, 1,26,28,662 (12.62 million) female and 379 third-gender electors. It added that there were 31,486 polling stations in the state, and that at 402, the 11-Mankachar polling station had the highest number of voters, while the 2-Dotma polling station had the lowest, at 146.

Also, the state has 63,314 service voters and 2,02,433 voters with disabilities. With 3,18,326 voters, Dalgaon assembly seat has the highest number of electors while Amri has 1,00,319, the lowest. The state has 245,084 voters in the youngest category (18-19 years) and 136,546 voters aged 85 and older, according to a statement from the CEO’s office.

“It is pertinent to mention that 7,86,841 additions and 4,47,196 deletions have taken place from January 6 this year to December 27,” the statement added.

Of the names marked for deletion, 479,000 were identified due to deaths, 524,000 because voters had shifted from their registered addresses, and 53,619 for being demographically similar entries or multiple registrations. The proposed removals account for roughly 4% of the electoral roll before revision.

Officials underlined that these names have not yet been deleted under the provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1950. They will only be processed for removal or shifting after formal applications are received during the current claims and objections period.

Assam is conducting a special revision (SR) instead of the special intensive revision (SIR) being carried out in 12 other states and Union territories, including Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. The differentiation stems from the ongoing National Register of Citizens (NRC) update in Assam, which remains incomplete and operates under Supreme Court supervision.

“Under the Citizenship Act, there are separate provisions for citizenship in Assam. Under the supervision of the Supreme Court, the exercise of checking citizenship is about to be completed,” chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said while announcing the SIR drives in late October.

Tuesday’s statement asked people to use the forms to ensure the final roll’s accuracy: “Form 6 for new enrollment of eligible citizens (must be 18+ as of January 1, 2026), Form 7 to officially object to or request the deletion of deceased electors identified during verification and Form 8 for shifting of residence, correction of errors, or marking person with disability (PwD) status and application for duplicate EPIC (election photo identity card),” the press note added.