Tamil Nadu Draft Voter Roll Drops 97.37 Lakh Names After Door-To-Door Verification

Tamil Nadu's draft electoral roll, released after the first phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), shows that 97,37,832 names have been removed from the earlier voter list of 6,41,14,587 electors. Following these deletions, the revised draft now stands at 5,43,76,755 voters. The removals account for about 15.18 per cent of the electorate and were carried out after door-to-door verification as part of preparations for the 2026 Assembly elections.

According to the Election Commission's data, the deletions include 26.94 lakh voters who were removed due to deaths. Another 66.44 lakh names were deleted because of permanent relocation or migration, while 3.39 lakh entries were found to be duplicates. Urban centres recorded the highest number of deletions, with Chennai reporting the maximum removals during the verification exercise.

The Election Commission has opened the claims and objections window until January 18, 2026. During this period, eligible voters can apply for inclusion of their names, seek corrections, or raise objections against deletions in the draft electoral roll.

As part of the revision process, enumeration forms were submitted by around 5.43 crore voters, resulting in a coverage rate of 84.81 per cent. The draft roll includes 2.77 crore women voters and 2.66 crore men. Officials said the exercise aims to ensure more accurate and updated electoral rolls ahead of the polls.

While the revision is intended to improve the quality of voter lists, earlier phases of the exercise had indicated higher deletions in urban areas, largely due to voters being untraceable during verification.