CHENNAI: (BUREAU) The state executive committee of the Communist Party of India (CPI) has expressed shock over the draft voter rolls released by the Chief Electoral Officer after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), flagging mammoth deletions.
While voters other than the deceased have been allowed to apply for re-inclusion, the party said the situation has taken a disturbing turn, with the Election Commission announcing that notices will be issued to an additional 10 lakh voters seeking explanations for allegedly failing to fill out survey forms properly.
Veerapandian pointed out that Booth Level Officers rarely visited households as per the mandated three times, with many areas seeing only one visit. In several cases, officials reportedly obtained signatures and left without completing forms. Even the Chief Electoral Officer had stated publicly that a signature alone would suffice.
He urged the Election Commission to halt finalisation of the revised draft rolls, conduct the 2026 Assembly elections using the existing rolls with routine additions and deletions, and prepare a transparent and accurate voter list later with adequate time.
The SIR process, which began on December 4, 2025, concluded with the publication of the draft electoral roll on December 19. As per the announcement, 97,37,831 voters were deleted from the rolls.