Shillong: Nearly 1.80 lakh electors face removal from Meghalaya’s draft electoral roll. This accounts for 7.68 percent of the state's 23.50 lakh voters. The list, published August 5 under the Special Intensive Revision 2026, targets 180,402 individuals. Data from August 26 shows why.
Deaths account for 45.2 percent of the flags. Untraceable or absent voters make up 27.5 percent. Permanently shifted residents constitute 23.6 percent, while 3.7 percent are enrolled elsewhere. Men comprise 58.6 percent of the total list.
Sabar Institute researchers Sabir Ahamed, Souptik Halder, and Ashin Chakraborty analyzed the records. They found the cuts could swing close contests. In 32 of 60 Assembly constituencies, the deletion count exceeds the 2023 victory margin. Nongthymmai leads with 7,413 names flagged against a 1,199 vote margin. North Shillong follows with 6,563 flags versus a 1,033 vote gap.
The data reveals sharp regional disparities. Scheduled Tribe seats average a 7.72 percent deletion rate. Five unreserved seats average 16.41 percent. East Khasi Hills holds 38.8 percent of all flagged names. It is the only district exceeding a 10 percent deletion rate.
The researchers note the work is preliminary. "The authors describe the work as preliminary and caution that uneven numbers, by themselves, do not prove discrimination or official misconduct."
Beyond the deletion list, officials identified 2.23 lakh electors whose records lack mapping to the 2005 intensive revision. Hearings for 14 East Khasi Hills seats resume August 31 after a brief pause for law and order. Citizens have until September 4 to file claims and objections. Final rolls arrive October 7.
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