A comprehensive report titled “Changing Voter Landscape in Uttarakhand between 2022 and 2027 Assembly Elections,” released on October 17 by social activists Anoop Nautiyal and Praveen Upreti, has cast a shadow over the stateтАЩs electoral integrity. The study reveals a stark decline in the voter roll, with a reduction of 11,07,695 voters between the 2022 Assembly elections and the final voter list published on October 3, 2026. This drop accounts for 13.40 percent of the total electorate, a figure that social activists argue is the highest percentage decline among the states analyzed in the report. While the data places Uttarakhnd at the top of the list for voter contraction, the report carefully notes that such comparisons require caution due to varying reference dates and revision procedures across different states. For context, the report cites lower percentage declines in other regions, including 11.4 percent in Uttar Pradesh, 9.18 percent in Goa, 8.79 percent in Tamil Nadu, and significantly smaller drops in states like Kerala and Punjab.
The geographic distribution of this decline is particularly alarming in the state capital. Dehradun district recorded the most significant loss, with nearly 3.03 lakh voters removed from the rolls, representing a 20.22 percent decrease. Other districts also witnessed substantial drops, with Pauri Garhwal seeing a 14.89 percent decline, followed by Pithoragarh at 13.61 percent and Tehri Garhwal at 13.14 percent. The impact is even more pronounced at the constituency level; Dehradun Cantt suffered a massive 34.19 percent reduction, while Rajpur Road and Dharmpur saw drops of 32.64 percent and 27.59 percent, respectively. In Rajpur Road, the electorate plummeted from 1,19,615 in 2022 to just 80,569 in the 2026 list. In contrast, the study highlights that constituencies like Badrinath (91,555 voters) and Kedarnath (85,924 voters) maintained higher registration numbers, prompting calls for a detailed review to understand these discrepancies.
Beyond total numbers, the report raises serious concerns regarding gender demographics in the electoral process. Analysis indicates that in 36 out of UttarakhndтАЩs 70 Assembly seats, the percentage decline in female voters exceeded that of male voters. This negative trend is particularly evident in districts such as Udham Singh Nagar, Haridwar, Tehri Garhwal, Uttarkashi, and Almora. A striking finding from the data is the loss of a historic milestone: in 2022, Dwarahat was the only constituency where female voters outnumbered males. However, in the 2026 list, no constituency recorded a female-majority electorate. This shift has led activists to demand a booth-wise and constituency-wise investigation to uncover the reasons behind the disproportionate drop in female voter registration.
In response to these findings, social activist Anoop Nautiyal emphasized that such significant changes in the voter list raise critical questions about transparency, accountability, and public trust in the electoral process. He stressed that the Election Commission of India (ECI) has a paramount duty to ensure that no eligible citizen is unfairly excluded from the rolls and that the process for verifying names and making corrections remains accessible to all. The report formally demands that the ECI release a detailed breakdown of the 11.07 lakh missing voters, categorized by constituency and polling center. Furthermore, officials are urged to provide separate details on the reasons for deletionsтАФsuch as death, migration, or duplicate entriesтАФand to publish comprehensive gender-wise data to restore confidence in the integrity of the upcoming 2027 Assembly elections.
