Thiruvananthapuram ,20 Feb (H.S.):The final electoral roll of Kerala will be published tomorrow following the completion of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, Chief Electoral Officer Rathan U. Khelkar announced.
As part of the revision exercise, 53,229 names have been removed from the voters’ list.
According to the Chief Electoral Officer, those deleted from the roll include individuals who have passed away and persons who have acquired foreign citizenship, rendering them ineligible to remain on the electoral register. The revision process was undertaken to ensure greater accuracy and transparency in the electoral database ahead of upcoming elections.
The updated final roll will have a total of 26,953,644 voters across the State. Of these, 13,126,048 are men and 13,827,319 are women. The roll also includes 277 transgender voters and 223,558 Non-Resident Keralites (NRKs) registered as overseas electors. In addition, 424,518 new voters have been added to the final list, reflecting fresh enrolments during the revision period.
The draft electoral roll under the Special Intensive Revision was published in December. Following its release, the Election Department invited objections and claims from the public. Complaints were received and detailed hearings were conducted before finalising the updated list. Officials said due process was followed at every stage to address grievances and verify eligibility.
When the draft roll was released on December 23, it contained 27,850,856 voters. Subsequently, 2.408 million names were flagged and removed during the verification phase, reducing the draft list to 25,442,352 voters. After incorporating eligible additions and completing the scrutiny process, the final number has now been fixed at 26,953,644.
Election authorities reiterated that the objective of the Special Intensive Revision was to eliminate duplicate and ineligible entries while ensuring that all qualified citizens are included. The publication of the final roll marks the completion of this extensive verification drive and sets the stage for future electoral processes in the State.
Officials have urged voters to verify their details once the final list is made public and report any discrepancies through the prescribed mechanisms.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Arun Lakshman
