Over 3.22 lakh names removed from district’s draft electoral roll after SIR

Over 3.22 lakh names were removed from the draft electoral roll of Ernakulam district published after the Special Intense Revision (SIR) on Tuesday (December 23).

District Collector G. Priyanka handed over the draft electoral roll prepared after the SIR to representatives of political parties.

According to the draft roll, the district has a total of 23,30,643 voters. Compared to the list published on October 27, as many as 3,22,422 names were removed for various reasons.

Addressing the media, Ms. Priyanka clarified that eligible voters excluded from the draft list would not lose their voting rights. Those removed have until January 22 to file objections and complaints. They can submit Form 6 to have their names included in the final electoral roll, which will be published on February 21.

“Voting is the fundamental right of the people. The district administration is committed to ensuring that all eligible voters are included in the electoral roll,” the Collector said. She added that 2,06,061 names in the draft list could not be linked with the 2002 SIR roll, and that special hearings would be conducted by electoral registration officers to address these cases.

The Collector also commended booth-level officers, BLO supervisors, and other officials for their crucial role in successfully completing the SIR process.

Sub-Collector Granthe Sai Krishna, Election Deputy Collector Sunil Mathew, and other deputy collectors were present.

The breakdown of names removed from the draft roll is as follows: deceased voters: 82,073; untraceable: 96,506; permanently relocated: 89,067; duplicate entries across lists: 12,953; and Others (including refusal to return enumeration forms): 41,823.