Around 12 lakh voters untraceable in Kerala; Names can still be added before Assembly Elections 2026

Thiruvananthapuram: The large-scale revision of Kerala’s electoral roll has revealed that nearly 12 lakh voters remain untraceable, even after Booth Level Officers (BLOs) visited their residences three times. State Chief Electoral Officer Rathan U Kelkar said he expects most of them to be located. He added that efforts are underway to publish an error-free voters list so that not a single appeal needs to be filed.

A majority of these missing voters are from urban regions. This group includes individuals who have passed away, those who have relocated, and those who are registered to vote elsewhere. Urban areas also saw a higher number of people failing to return the forms after completing them.

At least 82 per cent of forms had been submitted by Sunday night. BLOs and Booth Level Agents (BLAs) have been instructed to conduct joint meetings to check whether any of the untraceable voters can still be traced. The final week of the drive can be used to include people with disabilities, senior citizens, bedridden individuals, and others who may have been left out.

New names can be added until the assembly elections

The Chief Electoral Officer said a special drive will be held during the extra week to collect forms from those who need to include their names in the voter list. Further procedures will be carried out once the draft list is released. Names can continue to be added until the last day allotted for filing nomination papers for the next assembly elections.

Collector will examine complaint

The Collector will review MLA Mathew T. Thomas’ complaint that his name is missing from the 2002 voter list for the SIR. Although his name is not present in the 2002 records, efforts are being made to include it in the updated list. Kelkar also stated that presenting any one of the identification documents approved by the commission would be adequate during the hearing.