More than 24 lakh electors were removed from Kerala’s voter lists after the Election Commission of India (ECI) published the draft electoral roll on Tuesday following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.
According to the ECI, out of a total of 2,78,50,855 electors in the state, 2,54,42,352 submitted their Enumeration Forms during the revision process.
The poll body said the deletions were due to multiple factors, including voters enrolling in other states or Union Territories, electors found to be non-existent, failure to submit enumeration forms by the December 18 deadline, and unwillingness to remain registered.
Break-up of deleted names shows:
- 6,49,885 electors (2.33%) were identified as deceased
- 14,61,769 electors (5.25%) had shifted residence or were absent
- 1,36,029 electors (0.49%) were enrolled at multiple locations
While the enumeration period ended on Tuesday, eligible voters can still file claims for inclusion or objections for deletion of ineligible names during the claims and objections period from December 23 to January 22, 2026, the ECI said.
To ensure widespread awareness and participation, the ECI said Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs), District Election Officers (DEOs), and Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) conducted extensive public outreach and held multiple meetings with political parties throughout the enumeration period.
Booth Level Officers (BLOs) carried out house-to-house visits to all electors listed as of October 27, distributing Enumeration Forms and making at least three follow-up visits for collection. Booth Level Agents (BLAs) were permitted to submit up to 50 forms per day to ensure full political party participation.
Local Anganwadi workers, students from NSS, NCC, ELCs, social work volunteers, and revenue officials assisted BLOs to speed up and improve accuracy. The ECI said this support helped achieve a 93.06% digitisation mapping rate.
Among the initiatives introduced during the SIR exercise was the ‘SIR Joyathon’, a motivational and stress-relief campaign launched by the Kerala Chief Electoral Officer to support election staff managing heavy workloads.
Districts also introduced “Best BLO/Supervisor of the Day” recognitions, promoted experience-sharing among fully digitised booths on social media, and conducted grassroots outreach through initiatives such as Night Out programmes, kite festivals, sand art, votathon rallies, candlelight marches, and personalised appreciation postcards signed by district collectors.
In areas with poor internet connectivity, the state adopted a community digitisation model, allowing BLOs to work collectively in strong-network zones. Special urban camps were also organised across all wards of Urban Local Bodies to ensure full urban coverage.
The ECI said it conducted eight state-level meetings, 52 district-level meetings, and 317 assembly constituency-level meetings with political parties during the revision process.
The final electoral roll for Kerala will be published on February 21, 2026.