Maharashtra electoral roll revision: 93% forms distributed, 73% digitised, urban districts lag

Mumbai, August 3: With the deadline for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls approaching, Maharashtra has distributed over 93% of enumeration forms and digitised nearly 73% of them, according to data released by the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) on Monday.

The enumeration phase of the SIR, which began on June 30, will conclude on August 8. Maharashtra has around 9.79 crore registered voters. Of these, 9.18 crore enumeration forms, or 93.79%, have been distributed, while over 7.13 crore forms, or 72.89%, have been digitised so far.

Wardha and Hingoli emerged as the best-performing districts, achieving 100% distribution of enumeration forms. Hingoli also topped the state in digitisation, with 90.47% of forms digitised, followed by Wardha at 89%.

In contrast, major urban centres lagged behind the state average. Pune recorded 80.72% distribution of forms and 59.67% digitisation, while Nagpur reported 87.62% distribution and 59.77% digitisation. Mumbai Suburban recorded 85.12% distribution and 53.21% digitisation, while Thane registered the lowest digitisation rate in the state at 46.55%, despite distributing 82.33% of the forms.

Besides Hingoli and Wardha, Ratnagiri (89.86%), Buldhana (89.19%) and Yavatmal (87.93%) recorded the highest levels of digitisation.

According to the CEO’s office, 1,00,253 booth-level officers (BLOs) are engaged in the exercise across the state. The SIR aims to ensure that all eligible voters are included in the electoral rolls and that duplicate or deceased voters are removed.

The data underscores a clear urban-rural divide in the revision process. While rural districts have shown higher efficiency in both distribution and digitisation, densely populated urban areas are struggling to keep pace, which could affect the final accuracy of the rolls.

Officials said the remaining forms are being processed on priority, and the focus is on completing digitisation before the August 8 deadline. The final electoral rolls are expected to be published after the revision process is complete, enabling eligible citizens to exercise their franchise in upcoming elections.