The difference looked alarming. In the list published by the Election Commission of India (ECI) on January 6, 2025, the number of voters in Kerala was 2,77,20,818. When the State Election Commission (SEC) Kerala revised its rolls for the upcoming local body polls on June 30, the number found was 2,66,78,256. The difference: 10,42,562 voters.

Though both the voter lists are drawn up by two agencies - ECI for Lok Sabha and Assembly elections and SEC for local body (panchayat, municipality and corporation) polls - the number of voters should ideally be the same. Even the State Election Commissioner A Shajahan does not have a different opinion.

Incomplete draft
Still, why is there such a seemingly baffling mismatch in the number of voters. First of all, the SEC's list is just the draft electoral roll. The final voters' list will be published on August 30, after taking into account all the complaints of exclusions and inclusions in the draft voters' list. "After the revision exercise is over, there will be changes," the CEC, Shajahan, said.

Good score requires timing
A second reason can be attributed to the timing of the electoral roll revision.

The ECI revised its electoral rolls just before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. "If the revision is done only during the time of the general election, the focus will be on including as many voters as possible. Absentee, shifted and dead voters would be overlooked. The attention will be primarily on enrolling new voters," Shajahan said.

The Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) will then have to make an extra effort to weed out absentee, shifted and dead voters. "During the election time, this process will not be done in the most efficient manner," Shajahan said. Thus, a higher number of voters in the ECI list.

The SEC Kerala, on the other hand, did its revision during what Shajahan calls the "lean period", when there was no pressure to conduct polls.

The SEC conducted 'special summary revisions' in 2023 and 2024, when the local body polls were two or more than a year away. Further, electoral roll revisions were done in the 375 wards where byelections were held after 2020. During these 'purification' exercises, the EROs had the time to weed out absentee, shifted and dead voters.

"After these two special summary revisions and the minor ward-level revisions, the number of voters (in the SEC list) dwindled by 14 lakh compared to 2020," Shajahan said.

Indigenous knowledge
A third reason can be chalked up to the nature of EROs deployed by the ECI and the SEC. For the ECI, the ERO is the deputy collector, a district-level officer. For the SEC, the ERO is the panchayat/municipality/corporation secretary.

"A local body secretary, unlike a deputy collector, is in a better position to get direct information about changes that take place locally. This will render the process more efficient," Shajahan said.

Multiple chances
Yet another reason for the mismatch in number of voters is the qualifying date for enrollment. For the local body polls, there is just one qualifying date: January 1. Citizens who turn 18 on or before January 1 alone can apply.

When it comes to Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, there are four qualifying dates. Not only can citizens who turn 18 on or before January 1 apply but also those who turn 18 on or before three other dates: April 1, July 1 and August 1.

Suspicious aggression
Nonetheless, a particular aspect of the SEC's special summary revision exercises remains suspicious.

"The Electoral Registration Officers have done suo moto removal of deceased voters and those who have shifted residence from the constituencies," the SEC's Summary Revision Report - 2024 says. This suggests an aggressive exclusionary drive by a body whose fundamental mandate is to increase voter enrollment.

After this exercise, 4,52,951 voters were deleted from the list. In the Summary Revision done in 2023, nearly 10 lakh voters were deleted. Together over 14 lakh voters were weeded out in the last five years.

Arbitrary powers
Ordinarily, a voter can be excluded only after following a cautious process. It is not just enough for a political party or a resident of the ward to submit an application demanding the removal. This demand has to be formally backed by a voter of the concerned ward, too. But during the summary revisions, voters were "suo motu" or arbitrarily removed by officers.

In fact, rules allow EROs to delete names from the list if they are convinced. "This is done after deliberations with political parties," Shahjahan said. He said that maximum publicity for the summary revisions were also given so that people were aware of the exercise.

"If there is a complaint that a wrong suo motu deletion has been done, Commission would inquire into it," he said.

Fear is, certain EROs might work to serve the interests of the ruling party. The SEC admitted that action had been taken against a local body secretary for wrongfully deleting a person's name from the list.

The CEC is unsure whether there will be more such complaints, but they may arise during the revision stage. "Officials know the consequences of making mistakes. So such deletions would be done only prudently and carefully," he said.