New Delhi, Oct. 6 -- An independent analysis of Uttar Pradesh's updated electoral roll has uncovered a major transparency failure, revealing that the application data for 16.18 lakh voters is missing from the state's public portal.

Although the Election Commission of India received 88 lakh new Form 6 applications during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), the state Chief Electoral Officer's (CEO's) website hosts records for only 71.38 lakh, an investigative report by The Reporters' Collective showed.

The report published on Tuesday, October 6, said it discovered this breach of law "while analysing the voter roll revision in India's most populous state where assembly elections are imminent".

Getting to final number

Explaining the pro...