SIR: 8.57 lakh deletions in Kerala as EC releases final voters list

First-time electors in the age group of 18-19, and the existing electors who had migrated and applied for corrections, will be issued with EPIC through Booth Level Officers to their residential address. Those who have completed 18 years as of January 1 this year, but failed to apply for inclusion during the SIR process, and the prospective electors completing 18 years after January 1, can also apply for their inclusion in the list.

Before the final rolls were unveiled, the Chief Electoral Office in Kerala had published a draft roll of 2.54 crore voters in December last year. This draft was prepared after dropping 24.08 lakh voters who were categorised as absent, dead or shifted. After the draft rolls were published, notices were served to 19.32 lakh voters, who had figured in the draft rolls but were asked to establish their link with the 2002 voters’ list. Another 17.56 lakh voters had also undergone hearings on account of logical discrepancies.

When the draft rolls were subjected to scrutiny, as many as 53,229 voters were dropped from the final list. They are the voters who died during the SIR process, those who had moved out to another location, those who embraced foreign citizenship and those who figured repeatedly in the rolls.

Out of the 2.69 crore voters in the final list, only 4,24,518 (4.24 lakh) voters are between the ages of 18 and 19. There are 2.04 lakh voters above the age of 85 and another 2.43 lakh voters in the category of persons with disabilities.

A district-wise analysis shows that the number of voters has gone up in certain districts, and down in others. In Ernakulam district, the final roll has 24.69 lakh voters, while the figure before SIR was 26.53 lakhs. In Thrissur district, the final roll of 25.12 lakhs is down 1,37,242 voters from October. In Kasaragod district, the number of voters has slightly gone up by 74,896 votes in the final roll of 10.96 lakh. In Thiruvananthapuram, the rolls had 24.4 lakh before SIR, and the figure has gone up to 25.26 lakhs now.