Thiruvananthapuram: The disappearance of 1.61 lakh voters from four Assembly constituencies in the capital district, following the Special Intensive Review (SIR) of the electoral roll, has largely been attributed to a surge in entries under the ‘No Mapping’ category.

The details of numerous individuals could not be matched with the 2002 electoral roll, leading to the large-scale exclusion of voters. Among those recorded as residents of apartment complexes, at least 85,000 could not be traced.

While such discrepancies are expected in areas experiencing high urban migration, the pattern in these constituencies appears unusual. Vattiyoorkavu reported the highest number of unaccounted voters, with 42,506 missing from the final list. Thiruvananthapuram recorded 36,258 missing voters, Nemom 36,262, and Kazhakkoottam 34,538, all identified as untraceable during the SIR process.

In previous elections, residence certificates issued by the corporation — often based on recommendations from local representatives — served as the primary proof for people moving from other areas to register as voters. Several of these voters were found to have come from distant locations.

With the SIR making document submission and mapping mandatory, booth-level officers were required to remove entries that could not be verified. Statistics show that in each of these constituencies, the number of such cases reportedly exceeded 20,000.

Following the discovery of the missing voters, all three political fronts have actively moved to re-enrol eligible voters across these four constituencies.

Northern districts see surge in voters
Across the state, 95 out of 140 constituencies recorded a decline in voters, while 45 saw an increase. The growth was primarily observed in the northern districts. In Malappuram, all 16 constituencies reported an increase, with Vengara witnessing the highest rise of 19,297 voters, followed by Tirur with 18,639 new voters.