Thiruvananthapuram: More than 24.08 lakh electors have been deleted from Kerala’s voter lists after the Election Commission of India (ECI) released the draft electoral roll on Tuesday, following the completion of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise across the state.
According to official figures, 2,54,42,352 electors submitted Enumeration Forms out of a total 2,78,50,855 registered voters in the state.
The ECI said the deletions were due to multiple reasons, including voters shifting to other States or Union Territories, non-existent electors, failure to submit enumeration forms by the December 18 deadline, and individuals unwilling to remain registered.
Break-up of Deleted Voters
The deleted names include:
- 6,49,885 deceased voters (2.33%)
- 14,61,769 shifted or absent voters (5.25%)
- 1,36,029 voters enrolled at multiple locations (0.49%)
The enumeration phase ended on Tuesday, but the ECI has opened a claims and objections window from December 23 to January 22, 2026, allowing eligible voters to seek inclusion or correction in the rolls.
Extensive Awareness and Ground-Level Efforts
To ensure maximum participation, the Election Commission conducted widespread awareness campaigns. Senior election officials, including CEOs, DEOs and EROs, held regular meetings with political parties to explain procedures and share progress.
Booth Level Officers (BLOs) carried out door-to-door visits, distributing Enumeration Forms to all voters listed as of October 27. Each household was visited at least three times to collect completed forms.
BLAs were permitted to submit up to 50 Enumeration Forms per day, while volunteers and student groups worked to ensure no eligible voter was left out.
Special Initiatives and Innovation
The ECI introduced several initiatives to improve efficiency:
- Support from Anganwadi workers, NCC, NSS, MSW/BSW students, and revenue officials
- ‘SIR Joyathon’, a stress-relief and motivational campaign for election staff
- Recognition programmes such as Best BLO of the Day
- Night Out initiative, where senior officials worked alongside BLOs in local communities
- Creative outreach through kite festivals, sand art, candlelight marches, votathon rallies, and social media campaigns
Kerala also adopted a community digitisation model in areas with weak network connectivity, allowing BLOs to digitise forms collectively in high-connectivity zones. Special urban camps were held across all Urban Local Body wards.
Political Engagement and Next Steps
During the SIR process, the ECI held:
- 8 state-level meetings
- 52 district-level meetings
- 317 assembly constituency-level meetings with political parties
The final electoral roll for Kerala will be published on February 21, 2026, the Commission confirmed.