24.08 lakh names deleted from Kerala's SIR draft voters' list, another 19.3 lakh in limbo

When the Draft List of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Kerala was published on Tuesday, 24,08,503 (twenty-four lakh eight thousand five hundred and three) names have been deleted. 

These voters come under the ASD (Absent, Shifted, and Dead) list, and this number was put out by the Chief Electoral Officer of Kerala a week ago. If the dead (nearly 6.5 lakh) and the duplicates or names that have appeared more than once in the electoral roll (1.36 lakh)  are taken into account, the effective exclusion would be just about 19 lakh. 

The post-SIR draft list of the Election Commission of India (ECI) has 2,54,42,352 (two crore fifty four lakh forty two thousand three hundred and fifty two) voters.

How does SIR list compare with the state list
On the other hand, the voters' list used by the Kerala State Election Commission (SEC) for the just concluded local body polls has 2,86,24,558 (two crore eighty six lakh twenty four thousand five hundred and fifty eight) voters. Compared to the state list, the ECI's SIR draft list is short by 31,82,206 (nearly 32 lakh) voters. 

The voters excluded from the draft SIR list form 8.65 per cent of the 2,78,50,855 (two crore seventy eight lakh fifty thousand eight hundred and fifty five) voters who were served the enumeration forms; 2.78 crore is the number of voters in the electoral roll frozen by the ECI on October 27, 2025.

(It is the ECI list that is used for Assembly and Parliament elections. For local body polls, the SEC list is followed.)

Who are the excluded 
Of the more than 2.78 crore enumeration forms distributed, 2,54,42,352 (two crore fifty four lakh forty two thousand three hundred and fifty two) forms, or 91.35 per cent, were returned. The holders of the remaining 24-lakh-plus (8.65%) unreturned forms have been excluded. 

Among those excluded, the 'Shifted' category constituted the highest number: 8,16,221. The 'Dead' are 6,49,885. The 'Untraceable': 6,45,548. The 'Duplicates', those whose names figured more than once, are 1,36,029. And the 'Others', including those who had refused to receive the enumeration forms, are 1,60,830.

What happens to the excluded 
"These people will not be heard again," Rathan U Kelkar, the Chief Electoral Officer Kerala said. "If they want their names included, they can submit their claims in Form 6 along with a Declaration form," he said. In short, those who have been left out should apply anew, like any young voter who had crossed the minimum voting age of 18. 

There is one month for raising claims and objections, from December 23 to January 22, 2026. 

To check for your name in the voters list, enter your EPIC (Elector's Photo Identity Card) number, which can be found at the top left block of your enumeration form, on this link: https://electoralsearch.eci.gov.in/

Why 19 lakh in the list are not yet voters
In addition to the 24 lakh-plus excluded, 19.3 lakh voters or 7 per cent of those who have been included in the list have fallen in a grey area. These are voters who do not feature in the 2002 SIR list and whose names could not be linked or mapped to existing addresses or polling booths. 

For instance, some of them would have been working in the Gulf or in other states in 2002 and, therefore, was not part of the 2002 exercise. Attempts to link them to their father/mother/grandparents, too, would have failed. 

In some cases, even if they were part of the 2002 list, they would have forgotten the polling booth or even the Assembly constituency they belonged to in 2002 as they would have been constantly moving from one place to another as part of their profession. In their case too, attempts to link them to their closest blood relatives would have failed. 

Unlike others in the draft list, these voters have not yet been officially declared as voters under the SIR exercise.

What is the way out for the unmapped 
For such people, a hearing will be conducted. The CEO Kerala said that the mapping exercise, though the deadline was December 18, would continue for some more days. "It will be after this that the EROs (electoral registration officer) in charge of an Assembly constituency will use their discretion and call (unmapped) people for hearing," Kelkar said. Booth-level officers (BLOs) will deliver the notices for hearing directly to the aggrieved voter. The notices will list the documents to be produced at the hearing. 

What happens if those in list are deleted 
The CEO Kerala said that under the SIR guidelines, no name can be deleted from the draft roll published on Tuesday (December 23) without notice and a speaking order by the ERO/AERO.

If a voter in the draft roll is excluded after a hearing by the ERO, the first appeal can be filed before the District Election Officer (DEO) within 15 days of the order of the ERO. The second appeal can be filed with the CEO Kerala within 30 days of the DEO's order.

For assistance with appeal or SIR procedures within India, callers can dial 1950. (Between November 15, 2025, and December 19, this service answered a total of 44,885 calls.) Overseas voters can seek assistance by calling +91 471 2551965 or emailing overseaselectorssir26@gmail.com. Between November 13 and December 19, this dedicated line received and answered 2,576 calls.