Meghalaya: Women voters continue to outnumber men in draft electoral rolls
Shillong, Aug 5
Women voters have once again outnumbered their male counterparts in Meghalaya's draft electoral rolls, which were published on Wednesday following the completion of the Special Intensive Revision.
Meghalaya Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) B.D.R. Tiwari, explaining the details of the draft electoral lists published across all 12 districts of the state, said that as per the draft rolls, Meghalaya has a total of 21,69,243 registered voters, comprising 11,16,199 women, 10,53,039 men and five third-gender electors.
Meghalaya's draft electoral roll has shrunk by over 1.8 lakh voters following a state-wide verification drive, with the Election Department publishing the revised rolls for all 60 Assembly constituencies under the SIR 2026. The draft roll now contains 21,69,243 electors, down from 23,49,645 before the revision.
During the enumeration phase, 1,80,402 electors (7.68 per cent of the total electorate) were identified under the Absent, Shifted, Deceased and Duplicate (ASDD) categories, the CEO said. Of these, 81,490 (3.47 per cent) were found to be deceased, 45,011 (1.92 per cent) were untraceable or absent, 42,532 (1.81 per cent) had permanently shifted, 6,701 (0.29 per cent) were already enrolled elsewhere (duplicate entries), and 4,668 (0.20 per cent) either refused to submit the Enumeration Form or fell under other categories.
Tiwari said the SIR 2026 involved an extensive house-to-house verification exercise carried out by the election machinery across the state. The exercise achieved 100 per cent distribution and digitisation of Enumeration Forms, covering all 23,49,645 electors in Meghalaya.
He noted that the publication of the draft electoral rolls marks the commencement of the statutory period of filing claims and objections, which will be from August 5, 2026 to September 4, 2026.
— IANS
Reader Comments
👏👏 Great news! Women outnumbering men in electoral rolls shows our society is progressing. In our state too, women are becoming more politically aware. Kudos to the Election Commission for the thorough verification drive - removing 1.8 lakh fake/dead entries is a big step towards clean elections.
Interesting to see the gender gap in voting. While women voters are more in Meghalaya, in many northern states it's the opposite. But my concern is why so many people were found 'deceased' - 81,490 is a big number. Are the records updated regularly? Families should report deaths promptly so we don't have such huge corrections.
The Election Commission deserves appreciation for this detailed house-to-house verification. 100% distribution of enumeration forms is no small feat. But I hope the claims and objections window (Aug 5 to Sep 4) is well publicized in local languages so eligible citizens who were missed can get themselves enrolled.
Respectful criticism: While the numbers look good, we need to question why 1.8 lakh voters were deleted. In a democracy, removing voters should be done with utmost caution. I hope the people identified as 'shifted' or 'absent' had proper chance to present their case. Clean rolls are important, but so is protecting every citizen's right to vote.
Proud of Meghalaya's women! 🙌 This is what happens when women are educated and empowered. The matrilineal system there clearly reflects in political participation. Also, good that third-gender electors are being counted separately - every voice matters in democracy.
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