Telangana SIR data shows 27% Form-6 rejections, over 80 lakh possible exclusions
Information shared by the office of Telangana’s Chief Electoral Officer shows that 2,43,643 Form-6 applications for new voter registration were rejected during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. This is about 23% of the 10,77,450 applications received across 119 constituencies. If 1,61,214 applications still pending verification are excluded from the base, the rejection rate rises to about 27%.
Form-6 is used to apply for inclusion in the electoral roll; Form-7 is used to object to an entry or seek deletion. The SIR process involves enumeration, publication of draft rolls and a claims and objections phase. The data indicates that the rejection rate was particularly high in the six-month pre-SIR period from January 1 to June 14, 2026. Of 5,20,331 Form-6 applications received then, 1,92,574 were rejected—a rejection rate of about 37%.
During the enumeration phase, between June 15 and August 16, 2026, 3,18,042 new registration applications were received. In the claims and objections phase, when the Election Commission of India urged new and deleted voters to register, 1,70,374 Form-6 applications were received. Another 68,703 applications came after that phase ended on October 7, 2026, up to October 28, 2026.
The data also points to large-scale deletions. As many as 73,39,235 voters were excluded during the enumeration phase, the largest share of deletions. Before the SIR exercise began, 4,54,340 voters were removed after 5,13,375 Form-7 applications were filed between January 1 and June 14, 2026. Officials said many of these were “demographically similar entries” or “photo similar entries” identified by software on ECINET. The information shared did not explain 47,303 Form-7 applications rejected in the same period.
Overall, from January 1, 2026, 5,81,273 Form-7 applications were filed. Of these, 5,08,057 were accepted, 54,681 were rejected and 18,535 are under process. Of the 50,502 electors found ineligible for the final rolls, 19,535 were rejected for logical discrepancies and 30,207 for not being mapped to the 2002 SIR rolls. A total of 2,58,04,484 electors have been parked for final publication, including 89,63,065 who were served notices. More than one lakh electors are yet to be served notices or are awaiting a hearing.
When deletions and Form-6 rejections are read together, the figures add up to more than 80 lakh entries and applications. Not every rejected application necessarily involves a genuine elector; some may be incomplete, duplicate or ineligible. But the high rejection rate in the pre-SIR phase and the large number of deletions raise questions about verification and the opportunity for affected applicants to be heard.
Accurate electoral rolls are central to the right to vote. The ECI’s procedures provide for claims and objections, and applicants who believe they have been wrongly excluded can seek redress under those rules. The CEO office data does not, by itself, show how many of those rejected or deleted were eligible electors, or how many have successfully appealed. Those figures would be important for assessing the final impact on Telangana’s electorate.
