Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], January 3 : Following the Election Commission's weekly political party meeting on Special Intensive Revision (SIR), Chief Electoral Officer Kerala, Rathan U Kelkar, said that 19.32 lakhs voters were identified who have no mapping with the 2002 list.
Speaking to reporters, Rathan U Kelkar said, "We had a weekly meeting with political parties in Kerala. We have found 19.32 lakhs voters who have no mapping with the 2002 list. As per the direction of the commission, their documents will be examined to get convinced about the eligibility of these voters. We have nearly a thousand AEROs and DROs in the state. We have issued them directions as per the commission's instructions on the way in which hearing has to be conducted. Notices have been generated to all the voters, and they are getting issued to all the voters."
He further said that the final publication of the Electoral roll is scheduled to be released on February 21.
"Hearings will continue very soon. We hope that within the time limit as instructed by the Election Commission, we will be able to complete all hearings. We have informed all AEROs and DROs to ensure that people who are people who are bedridden, senior citizens and finding it difficult to attend to be facilitated so that they don't have any inconvenience as part of hearings. The hearings will be decided by the EROs at the level of polling station or village officers based on convenience of voters and officers. We are scheduled to come out with the final publication of the Electoral roll on February 21," he said.
He further stated that before that, they would be able to complete the hearings of the people with no mapping.
"We are also undertaking efforts to get new voters with Form 6 and 6A, which are of Indian origin and well as people overseas electors into the list before the designated time," he added.
Earlier, over 24.08 lakh electors were deleted from the voter lists in Kerala as the Election Commission of India (ECI) published the draft electoral roll after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in the state.
According to the release, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Kerala held 'SIR Joyathon', a motivational stress-relief campaign launched in late 2025 during the SIR exercise in Kerala. It aimed to support BLOs, election officials and volunteers managing the heavy workload of digitising voter enumeration forms.
Districts started a series of Best BLO/Supervisors of the Day to motivate them. Experience sharing of BLOs who have completed 100 per cent digitisation was also promoted through social media.
Led by the Chief Electoral Officer, the Night Out initiative involved senior officials joining Booth Level Officers (BLOs) to directly engage with people at the grassroots level of society, working without time constraints to ensure complete outreach. Conducted Kite Festival, Sand Art on behalf of SIR campaign, Visiting Unnathies, Conducting Votathon Ralli, Candle Light March, appreciating the efforts of BLOs by sending personalised postcards signed by the District Collector, A Day with BLO, etc were done as part of SIR promotion, press release said.
Kerala identified places with poor or slow network in the initial days of SIR, so it started a community model for digitisation. BLOs in such places would sit together in a strong network area and digitise the EFs for speedy work. Special urban camps were organised in all wards of Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) across the State to ensure complete coverage of urban electors.