The Uttar Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) has dismissed a media report claiming that 16.18 lakh voters were added to the state’s electoral rolls during the special intensive revision (SIR), clarifying that the figure represents Form 6 applications collected during the enumeration process and not voters who were automatically enrolled.
In a detailed post on X, the CEO said the report drew conclusions from “faulty assumptions” and maintained that the SIR was carried out in a transparent manner and in line with the Representation of the People Act, 1950, the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, and the Election Commission’s instructions.
The clarification was issued in response to an investigation by the Reporters’ Collective titled “The mysterious 16.18 lakh voters added to Uttar Pradesh’s roll”. The investigation questioned the collection and subsequent processing of 16.18 lakh Form 6 applications during the SIR and raised concerns about the availability of details related to these applications.
The CEO said the 16.18 lakh figure pertained to Form 6 applications collected before publication of the draft electoral roll on January 6, 2026. Booth-Level Officers (BLOs) gathered the applications through door-to-door visits during the enumeration phase between October 27, 2025, and January 6, 2026.
Under the EC’s SIR guidelines, Form 6 applications were to be provided to and collected from eligible individuals whose names were not on the electoral roll in force when the revision began on October 27, 2025, the CEO said.
The CEO also disputed the report’s claim that the names of people who submitted the forms were not disclosed publicly. According to the clarification, only Form 6 applications submitted after the draft electoral roll was published on January 6 had to be included in Form 9, the list of claims, during the claims-and-objections period.
The list was made available on the CEO’s website during the claims-and-objections process, the statement said. It added that the SIR did not violate any law, rule or EC instruction.
The CEO also rejected the report’s suggestion that a fixed percentage was used to determine how many Form 6 applications would be accepted, describing the claim as an arbitrary assumption without any logical basis.
Instead, applications were considered only after the prescribed procedure under the rules had been completed, the CEO said.
The CEO further maintained that political parties participated in the SIR process and that the exercise was open to scrutiny.The CEO also said no party or individual had so far made similar allegations concerning the SIR in Uttar Pradesh.