After the special intensive revision (SIR) exercise in poll-bound Punjab, the Election Commission on Monday published the final electoral rolls for the state, with 2.01 crore eligible voters. These include 1.03 crore male voters, 97 lakh female voters, and 506 third-gender voters.

The state’s voter count shrunk by 6.3%, or 13.60 lakh voters, from 2.14 crore, the total number of voters at the start of the nearly four-month-long electoral roll clean-up exercise launched in June this year, after taking into account the addition of new voters as well as the deletion of ineligible voters.

As many as 7,97,263 new voters have been added after the removal of 20,66,608 from the draft rolls. The names of voters, who were found to have permanently shifted their residences, reported deceased, untraceable or absent from their registered addresses, and found to be enrolled at more than one place, were deleted from the electoral rolls.

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Punjab’s chief electoral officer Anindita Mitra urged eligible persons who, for any reason, could not be included in the final electoral roll, or new electors seeking enrolment, to apply online or offline through their respective BLO by filling out Form 6. “It is a very simple process. Special camps will also be organised next week as per the EC’s instructions,” she said. Mitra further stated that the smooth conduct of the exercise would not have been possible without the valuable support of representatives of the political parties, especially the 89,395 booth-level agents (BLAs) appointed statewide, whose active participation was helpful. Copies of the final electoral rolls of all 117 assembly constituencies, along with soft copies, were also handed over to representatives of recognised political parties by the CEO, Punjab. Punjab, scheduled to go to polls early next year, was among 19 states and union territories in the third round of the SIR exercise.

Punjab had 2.14 crore registered electors, comprising 1,11,76,866 male, 1,02,83,478 female, and 699 third-gender electors, as of June 9, 2026. During the house-to-house enumeration phase, from June 25 to August 3, BLOs distributed enumeration forms to registered electors and collected them.

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The draft electoral rolls were published on August 13, with a total of 1,93,94,435 voters, followed by the claims and objection period from August 13 to September 12. Mitra said the notice phase/disposal of claims and objections – August 13 to October 8 – involved serving notices to unmapped electors and electors with discrepancies, hearings by EROs/AEROs at the village level, and decisions after verifying documents and BLO reports.

Of the 35,49,036 electors who were issued notices, 86,038 were marked ineligible after extensive verification and through speaking orders.

According to the poll body, the electorate increased from 1,93,94,435 electors in the draft rolls to 2,01,00,727 in the final electoral rolls, representing a net increase of 3.64%. The CEO said that every possible effort was made to reach out to all eligible electors.

Polling station rationalisation was carried out across all districts, increasing the number of polling stations from 24,453 to 25,332 to enhance voter accessibility.

Amid Opposition protests in Delhi against the exercise, the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Monday expressed satisfaction with SIR in Punjab, with representatives of all three parties stating that they had no objections to the final electoral rolls published by the Election Commission.

Praising the CEO, Congress leader Hardeep Singh Kingra said the exercise was conducted transparently, with political parties being kept informed at every stage. “I raised several queries at various stages. Mitra was very active and responded promptly every time,” he told the media after the final electoral rolls were handed over to representatives of political parties.

AAP leader Ferry Sofat, who is associated with the party’s legal cell, said that all parties had appreciated the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) for the way the exercise was conducted. “Unlike West Bengal, no political party in Punjab is alleging any irregularity. All are satisfied,” he said, pointing to the appointment of booth-level agents by all political parties.

SAD spokesperson and advocate Arshdeep Singh Kler said there were apprehensions in Punjab about the process initially, and they raised issues with the poll body. “The CEO considered the suggestions and made improvements wherever required. With the publication of the final rolls today, the process has concluded on a good note,” he told reporters outside the Punjab CEO’s office. All three representatives were deputed by their political parties.

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