Nearly 97.37 lakh names have been deleted from the electoral rolls of Tamil Nadu after Special Intensive Revisions (SIR) were conducted in the state. The announcement was made on December 19 by Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer Archana Patnaik while releasing the draft electoral roll.
This reduces Tamil Nadu’s electorate to 5.43 crore from 6.41 crore, Archana said.
Responding to questions from journalists, Election Commission of India (ECI) officials said that no voter deletion has occurred without due process.
According to the ECI, around 66.4 lakh voters have been identified as ‘shifted or absent’. Another 26.9 lakh voters have been recorded as deceased and 3.98 lakh voters have been identified as double entries enrolled in multiple places.
The revised voter roll comprises 2.67 crore men, 2.77 crore women, 7,191 trans persons and 4.19 lakh persons with disabilities.
Those whose names have been deleted have until January 18 to appeal, Archana also said.
Notably, after SIR was conducted in Bihar earlier this year, more than 65 lakh voters were found to have been deleted.
District-wise breakdown
A district-wise breakdown reveals that the highest number of deletions are in Chennai (14.25 lakh), followed by Chengalpattu (7 lakh).
Chennai had 40 lakh voters before the SIR, but now has only 25.79 lakh.
6.5 lakh names were deleted in Coimbatore, dropping from 32.25 lakh to 25.74 lakh.
3.31 lakh names were deleted in Trichy, dropping from 23.68 lakh to 20.37 lakh.
3.2 lakh names were deleted in Dindigul, dropping from 19.34 lakh to 16.09 lakh.
3.8 lakh names were deleted in Madurai, dropping from 27.40 lakh to 23.6 lakh.
2.46 lakh names were deleted in Cuddalore, dropping from 21.93 lakh to 19.46 lakh.
24,000 names were deleted in Ariyalur, dropping from 5.3 lakh to 5 lakh.
2.5 lakh names were deleted in Tiruvannamalai, dropping from 21 lakh to 18.7 lakh.
7 lakh names were deleted in Chengalpattu, dropping from 27 lakh to 20.85 lakh.
57,000 names were deleted in Nagapattinam, dropping from 5.67 lakh to 5 lakh votes.
1 lakh names were deleted in Ranipet, dropping from 10 lakh to 9 lakh.
2 lakh names were deleted in Kanchipuram, dropping from 14 lakh to 11.26 lakh.
1.8 lakh names were deleted in Virudhunagar, dropping from 16.26 lakh to 14.36 lakh.
6.16 lakh names were deleted in Tiruvallur, dropping from 35.82 lakh to 29.62.
1.74 lakh names were deleted in Krishnagiri, dropping from 16.80 lakh to 15.6 lakh.
1.25 lakh names were deleted in Theni, dropping from 11.30 lakh to 10.4 lakh
2.6 lakh names were deleted in Thanjavur, dropping from 20.98 lakh to 18.92 lakh.
1.82 lakh names were deleted in Villupuram, dropping from 17.27 lakh to 15.44 lakh.
1.50 lakh names were deleted in Sivagangai, dropping from 12.29 lakh to 10.79 lakh.
1.17 lakh names were deleted in Ramanathapuram, dropping from 12.08 lakh to 10.91 lakh.
75,000 names were deleted in Mayiladuthurai, dropping from 7.83 lakh to 7.8 lakh.
3.25 lakh names were deleted in Erode, dropping from 19.97 lakh to 16.71 lakh.
84,000 names were deleted in Kallakurichi, dropping from 11.6 lakh to 10.76 lakh.
1.39 lakh names were deleted in Pudukkottai, dropping from 13.94 lakh to 12.54 lakh.