Over 73 Lakh Telangana Voters Face Removal from Draft Electoral Roll

Following the conclusion of the enumeration form submission deadline on August 10 in Telangana, the Election Commission of India (ECI) designated 73,39,234 voter forms as uncollectable during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. These electors are set to be removed from the upcoming draft electoral rolls, which will be published across the state, including in Hyderabad.

Out of the total 3,38,26,448 voters recorded in Telangana, a total of 2,64,87,214 electors—representing 78.30 percent—returned their enumeration forms as the deadline concluded on Monday. The forms submitted by voters have already been digitised by Booth Level Officers (BLOs), while uncollectable entries were logged across specific exclusion categories.

The uncollectable group comprises 45,18,961 permanently shifted electors, 11,25,546 voters listed as absent or untraceable at their respective addresses, and 9,22,230 electors recorded under death. A further 6,70,203 dual votes were identified among voters who had already enrolled elsewhere, alongside 1,02,294 electors categorised under other grounds.

Telangana Chief Electoral Officer C Sudarshan Reddy had recently cautioned electors that failing to hand over a filled-in enumeration form to their respective Booth Level Officer during the Special Intensive Revision process would lead directly to the removal of their names from the electoral rolls, in line with ECI guidelines.

A Booth Level Officer from Hyderabad stated that administrative personnel have already designated the Absent, Shifted, and Death (ASD) categories for immediate deletion from the rolls. The official clarified that electors who returned blank forms will also have their names removed.

Electors whose enumeration forms contain discrepancies or anomalies will be served official notices by authorities. A final decision on whether to retain their voter status or mark their vote for deletion will be taken based on their responses and supporting documents submitted.

The Hyderabad BLO indicated that election officials anticipate between 90 lakh and 1 crore total votes could be deleted in the final voter list. Following the release of the draft electoral rolls on August 17, the window for filing claims and objections will run from August 17 to September 16. Officials will dispose of claims between August 17 and October 15, before releasing the final electoral rolls on October 19.