Thiruvananthapuram: The State Election Commission has received over 1.25 lakh applications within just three days of publishing the draft voter list for the upcoming local body elections. Of these, 1,05,948 were requests for inclusion of names, while the rest were related to corrections, address changes, or deletions.

The draft list, published on July 23, includes 2,66,78,256 voters. It was prepared based on the electoral roll used in the 2020 local body elections and subsequent bypolls, and updated through summary revisions in 2023 and 2024. No existing voter was excluded while creating the list for the newly delimited wards.

In the 2023 summary revision, 8,76,879 ineligible names, those who had died, shifted residence, or had duplicate entries, were removed. In the same exercise, 57,460 new eligible voters were added. The 2024 revision further removed 4,52,951 ineligible entries and added 2,68,907 valid voters.

Following the recent ward delimitation, the existing voter lists were rearranged to align with the new ward structure. If any voter’s ward or polling station has changed due to clerical errors during this process, the Election Commission has authorised EROs to make corrections proactively.

How to apply
Eligible voters can apply online through the commission’s website sec.kerala.gov.in until August 7 for name inclusion, corrections in the entries, change of ward or polling station, and deletion of names.

To request deletion, applicants must register online, take a printout of the application, sign it, and submit it to the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO).

Objections under Form 5 may also be submitted in person or by post.