Thiruvananthapuram,17 Dec (H.S.):Digitisation of enumeration forms under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Kerala has reached an advanced stage, with 99.93% of the work completed so far, Chief Electoral Officer Dr Rathan U. Kelkar said in a statement today.

As of 6 pm on Tuesday, a total of 2,78,32,269 enumeration forms had been digitised across the State.

However, the number of uncollectable forms—classified as Absentee, Shifted or Deceased (ASD)—has climbed to 25,08,267, indicating that nearly 25 lakh names are likely to be removed from the electoral rolls.

Dr Kelkar clarified that this figure is not final, as digitisation by all Booth Level Officers (BLOs) is yet to be fully completed. He cautioned that the final number of deletions could be higher once the remaining data is processed.

Voters who have not yet submitted their enumeration forms have been urged to do so without further delay by handing them over to the respective BLOs. Officials stressed that failure to submit the forms could result in names being deleted from the rolls.

Reviewing the progress of the SIR process, Dr Kelkar said that district collectors reported completion of meetings with political parties during an online review meeting held on Tuesday evening.

In most polling stations, interactions between Booth Level Officers and Booth Level Agents (BLAs) have also been completed, and ASD lists have been formally handed over to BLAs.

He directed that BLO–BLA meetings must be conducted immediately in areas where they are still pending and that ASD lists should be shared without delay.

District collectors have also been instructed to upload minutes and photographs of meetings with political parties, along with visuals of BLO–BLA interactions and ASD list handovers, on official social media platforms to ensure transparency.

The Special Intensive Revision process is scheduled to conclude on December 18. The draft electoral roll will be published on December 23, following which voters and political parties can file claims and objections until January 22.

---------------

Hindusthan Samachar / Arun Lakshman