'Delete Church’ members tell Mizoram CEO they don’t wish to enrol in electoral roll

Guwahati: ‘Delete Church’ members on Friday informed Mizoram Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Garima Gupta that they did not wish to have their names included in the Electoral Roll, as they felt that enrolling themselves was not compatible with their religious beliefs.

A Mizoram government official said the term refers to a small religious community, particularly in areas such as Champhai and Zotlang in eastern Mizoram, whose members hold strict religious beliefs that prevent them from enrolling in secular government electoral rolls.

Mizoram Chief Electoral Officer Garima Gupta on Friday visited members of the Delete Church community in the Zotlang and Champhai areas.


The state is undergoing SIR of electrol rolls, the CEO visited the community to understand, on the ground, the reasons why its members had chosen not to enrol themselves in the Electoral Roll.

“During the interaction, members of the Delete Church informed the CEO that they did not wish to have their names included in the Electoral Roll as they felt that doing so was not compatible with their religious beliefs,” the official said.

An official statement said that Garima Gupta, a senior IAS officer, was accompanied by Joint CEO Ethel Rothangpuii, Champhai Election Officer Ngulzaṭhuama, and Champhai South Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO) Lalchhuanawma Ralte.

The Election Commission of India is undertaking the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) 2026 in an intensive manner to ensure a clean and accurate electoral roll, remove ineligible names, and ensure that all eligible Indian citizens are duly included in the Electoral Roll. The process is now nearing completion, with the Final Electoral Roll scheduled to be published on September 7 (Monday), the statement said.

CEO Gupta had earlier said that Mizoram has become the first among the 16 states and two Union Territories currently undertaking the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls to achieve 100 per cent digitisation of the enumeration process. The draft electoral rolls under the ongoing SIR-2026 were published in all 11 districts of the state on July 4.

According to the draft electoral rolls for 2026, with July 1, 2026, as the qualifying date, Mizoram has a total of 8,28,906 registered voters comprising 4,29,881 women and 3,99,025 men.