Draft SIR electoral roll out in Kerala; over 24 lakh voters excluded

Thiruvananthapuram: The office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Kerala on Tuesday released the draft electoral roll prepared as part of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), a major voter verification exercise ahead of upcoming elections in the state.

Chief Electoral Officer Ratan U. Khelkar said that 24.08 lakh voters have been excluded from the draft list following the enumeration process. According to official data, Kerala had 2,78,50,856 registered voters in the October 2025 electoral roll.

Enumeration forms were distributed to all eligible voters, of which 2,54,42,352 forms were returned, translating to a response rate of 91.35 per cent. Around 8.65 per cent, or 24,80,503 voters, are yet to submit their forms.

The CEO’s office further clarified that the exclusions include 6,49,885 deceased voters, while 6,45,548 individuals could not be traced during the enumeration process. The remaining exclusions relate to non-submission of forms and verification-related issues.

As a result, the draft SIR electoral roll currently contains approximately 2.54 crore names. Booth-wise lists of voters who could not be traced have been prepared and shared with election officials.

Objections, corrections, and claims for inclusion in the draft voter list can be submitted until January 22. Voters whose names are missing can apply for inclusion by submitting the required declaration and forms through the Election Commission’s prescribed process.

The CEO said steps have been initiated to provide assembly constituency-wise voter lists to all recognised political parties to ensure transparency.

Voters can check their names on the Election Commission of India website, the CEO Kerala portal, or through Electoral Registration Officers and Booth Level Officers.

The final electoral roll for Kerala is scheduled to be published on February 21, 2026.

More updates are expected as the verification process continues.