CHENNAI: After the enumeration exercise conducted as part of the Special Intensive Revision, 97.37 lakh voters have been removed from the draft electoral roll in Tamil Nadu, according to data shared by Chief Electoral Officer Archana Patnaik on Friday.
Following these deletions, the total number of electors in Tamil Nadu has declined from 6.41 crore as on October 27 to 5.43 crore in the draft roll. Of the total electorate, women voters account for the largest share at 2.77 crore, followed by male voters at 2.66 crore.
Patnaik said that 68,085 Booth Level Officers (BLOs) were deployed across the State to carry out door-to-door verification during the enumeration exercise, which concluded on December 14.
The exercise found that 26,94,672 voters had died since 2002, when the previous Special Intensive Revision was conducted. “In the draft roll, the majority of deletions pertain to voters who have shifted their residence or were found to be absent, amounting to 66,44,881 voters. In addition, 3.93 lakh voters who were registered in two constituencies have been removed,” the Chief Electoral Officer said.
In total, 97,37,831 voters were deleted under three categories: death, shift or absence, and double entry. The draft electoral roll will be displayed at all polling stations across the State. Voters whose names have been deleted can apply for re-inclusion by submitting Form 6, prescribed by the Election Commission of India for name inclusion.
Patnaik said BLOs have begun receiving applications, with 5.19 lakh Form 6 submissions received so far. “To reduce inconvenience to the public, special camps will be organised for name inclusion and address correction in the electoral roll,” she said.
Voters familiar with online procedures can submit Forms 6 and 8 on the Election Commission of India’s website without physically approaching BLOs. She added that due procedure was followed in all cases and that no name was deleted without adhering to Election Commission guidelines.
Three constituencies in and around the Chennai district recorded particularly high deletions. Sholinganallur saw 2.18 lakh voters removed from its electorate of 7.02 lakh, followed by Pallavaram with 1.49 lakh deletions from 4.44 lakh voters and Alandur with 1.32 lakh deletions from a total of 3.99 lakh voters. At the other end, Jayankondam recorded the lowest number of deletions in the State, with 1,138 voters removed.
Officials also noted that around 12,000 voters chose not to submit enumeration forms during the exercise, resulting in the permanent loss of their voting rights.