Tamil Nadu has witnessed a major reshaping of its voter database following the first phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, with the state’s electorate shrinking by more than 15 percent. The updated draft voter list now reflects a significantly leaner and more accurate roll, election officials said.
As per official data released in Chennai, the number of registered voters has reduced from over 6.41 crore before the revision to approximately 5.43 crore after preliminary verification. More than 97 lakh entries were flagged and categorised as voters who were either no longer eligible, had relocated, were untraceable, or were listed more than once.
The Chief Electoral Officer of Tamil Nadu explained that a large portion of the deletions involved voters confirmed to be deceased, accounting for nearly 27 lakh removals. In addition, over 66 lakh names were placed in the “shifted or absent” category after repeated field verification attempts failed to establish their presence at the recorded addresses. Another set of over three lakh names was removed due to duplicate registrations, including cases of enrolment in multiple locations.
Election authorities clarified that where multiple enrolments were detected, voter registration was retained at a single valid address in line with statutory election guidelines. The objective, officials said, was to clean legacy errors that had accumulated over several election cycles.
Officials also pointed out that enumeration forms could not be obtained in many cases because voters had migrated to other states or union territories, could not be contacted despite multiple visits, or failed to submit required documentation within the stipulated deadline. Some electors, authorities added, chose not to participate in the verification process.
The draft electoral roll released after the first phase is open for public review, and election officials stressed that the revision exercise is intended to strengthen electoral integrity rather than exclude eligible voters. Citizens who believe their names have been wrongly removed or misclassified will be able to seek corrections during the claims and objections period.
