Why 97.37 lakh voters were deleted from Tamil Nadu's electoral rolls? CEO explains

Names of over 97.37 lakh voters have been either permanently deleted or removed from the draft electoral rolls in Tamil Nadu, released by the Election Commission of India (ECI) after the end of the first phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).

In a press conference at the state secretariat, Tamil Nadu’s Chief Election Officer (CEO), Archana Patnaik, stated that the current draft roll includes a total of 5,43,76,755 voters comprising 2.66 crore men and 2.77 crore women. Prior to the SIR, Tamil Nadu's total voter count stood approximately at 6.41 crore. The 40-day-long SIR exercise in the state has resulted in the deletion of 97,37,832 voters across all the districts. The deletions include absent or shifted voters, deceased voters and voters registered in multiple polling stations. 

As per the breakdown published by the ECI, 66.44 lakh voters had either permanently shifted or migrated from their registered address. They were found not residing at the registered address after three rounds of door-to-door verification. A total of 26.94 lakh voters, i.e., 6.2 per cent, are identified as deceased and so removed from the list. The shifted or migrated voters, deleted from the draft list, alone contribute for 10.36 per cent of the total voters. A total of 3.39 lakh voters have been found enrolled in multiple places, which contribute to 3.98 per cent of the total voters registered in the state.

Out of the 97.37 lakh deleted voters, 25.79 lakh voters are from 16 constituencies in the capital city of Chennai. This includes 12.47 lakh male voters, 13.31 lakh female voters, and 743 transperson voters. A total of 14.25 lakh voter names have been deleted due to reasons such as death, relocation, duplication, and absence. 

Speaking in detail on the draft rolls, Patnaik said that printed and digital booth-wise copies have been provided to all recognised political parties and also uploaded online in the ECI website. Booth-wise lists of the absent, shifted, deceased or duplicate electors, whose names are not included in the draft roll, will also be displayed on the notice board of the respective local offices. “These lists will also be published on DEO or CEO’s website, which can be accessed by the voters,” Patnaik explained. 

Any claims and objections to the draft rolls can be made from December 19 to January 18, 2026. During this period, any elector or any political party can file claims or objections for the inclusion of eligible electors or the deletion of ineligible names. 

A total of 234 EROs and 1,776 AEROs have been pressed to duty to scrutinise such cases. However, no elector can be deleted from the draft roll published now. Any such deletion cannot be done without the notice and a speaking order by the ERO or AERO. “Any aggrieved elector may appeal to the district magistrate and then with the CEO under Section 24 of the Representation of People Act, 1950,” Patnaik said.

However, those whose names didn’t appear in the draft rolls due to shifting or any other valid reason can enrol as voters by January by either filing petitions or getting enrolled as fresh voters. Special camps will be held to enrol fresh voters during this period, said Patnaik. The final list is likely to be published by mid-February. 

A district-wise breakup of the voter deletion released by the ECI shows that over 6.50 lakh voters have been removed from the 11 constituencies in Coimbatore, while around one lakh voters have been deleted from the rolls from Chief Minister M.K. Stalin’s Kolathur constituency, and 89,421 voters have been removed from Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin’s Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni constituency. In Congress leader P. Chidambaram’s Sivaganga constituency, the names of 1,50,828 voters have been removed from the list. In contrast, opposition leader Edappadi K. Palaniswami's Edappadi constituency saw only a small drop in the number, with just over 26,000 voters. 

The mass deletion in the draft rolls has however come as a shocker for the people of the state.