Kerala SIR: 8.65% forms uncollected, 24 lakh voters untraced
Of these, 6,49,885 pertain to deceased persons, 6,45,548 voters were found untraceable, and 8,16,221 voters were identified as having permanently shifted.
Of these, 6,49,885 pertain to deceased persons, 6,45,548 voters were found untraceable, and 8,16,221 voters were identified as having permanently shifted.
Of these, 6,49,885 pertain to deceased persons, 6,45,548 voters were found untraceable, and 8,16,221 voters were identified as having permanently shifted.
Thiruvananthapuram: Speaking at an all-party meeting convened to review the SIR on Saturday, Chief Electoral Officer Rathan U Kelkar said that 24,08,503 voters in Kerala remain untraced after the enumeration stage.
According to the data, 24,08,503 enumeration forms remain uncollected out of 2.78 crore existing voters in the state, which amounts to 8.65 per cent of the total forms handed out.
Of these, 6,49,885 pertain to deceased persons, 6,45,548 voters were found untraceable, and 8,16,221 voters were identified as having permanently shifted from their registered addresses.
In addition, 1,36,029 duplicate voters and 1,60,830 voters falling under other categories were identified. Kelkar said the draft electoral roll will be published on December 23.
He said issues related to the voters’ list can be addressed during the grievance redressal period from December 23 to January 22, 2026.
Additionally, there would also be provisions for enrolling new voters that would be made available later, he said.
However, political parties raised concerns over the genuineness of the revised list, alleging that several genuine voters were removed during the enumeration stage.
CPI leader Rajaji Mathew Thomas, who attended the meeting, said that his name and his wife's had been deleted from the voters’ list despite submitting the enumeration forms.
Election Commission officials later clarified that the names of Thomas and his wife exist in the voters’ list of the 43rd booth of the Ollur constituency.
A senior CPM leader, MV Jayarajan, alleged that several voters, particularly senior citizens who remain at home, were marked as untraceable. He also expressed apprehension over the number of voters shown as deceased and removed from the list.
Congress leader M K Rahman said around 710 voters from a booth in the Thiruvananthapuram constituency had been removed from the list. He alleged that the enumeration process was not conducted properly due to excessive pressure on Booth Level Officers.
Except for the BJP, representatives of other political parties demanded that the SIR schedule be extended, citing that many voters living abroad would be returning to Kerala during the Christmas vacation period.