The exercise involves extensive field verification, during which Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will make three visits to every household to verify voter details. The door-to-door enumeration will start on Tuesday and continue until 4 December.
Published Nov 04, 2025 | 8:00 AM ⚊ Updated Nov 04, 2025 | 8:00 AM
First undertaken in Bihar ahead of the state assembly polls, the SIR had sparked widespread protests and opposition.
Synopsis: Kerala is set to officially begin a state-wide, month-long Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls on Tuesday to verify and update voter records through door-to-door visits, but the exercise is already mired in confusion. Booth Level Officers report unclear guidelines and difficulties accessing tens of thousands of locked NRI homes, raising fears of errors and exclusions in the verification process. Political analysts warn that the revision could risk disenfranchising overseas Keralites and migrant communities, deepening concerns among NRIs over the exercise.
The Kerala State Election Commission is set to officially begin the contentious Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls across the state from Tuesday, 4 November.
First undertaken in Bihar ahead of the state assembly polls, the SIR had sparked widespread protests and opposition, but has been described as “detailed and people-centric” by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The exercise involves extensive field verification, during which Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will make three visits to every household to verify voter details. The door-to-door enumeration will start on Tuesday and continue until 4 December.
The launch of the SIR was symbolically marked on Saturday, 1 November, Kerala Piravi Day, when Chief Electoral Officer U Rathan Kelkar received the first enumeration form at Kuttichal in Thiruvananthapuram.
The form, filled by Jaya under the supervision of BLO BL Saranya in the Aruvikkara constituency, became the first completed enumeration record of the drive.
However, even before the exercise formally begins, South First found that confusion surrounds the process.
Several BLOs lack clarity on key aspects of the verification, while political parties too are unsure how to address emerging challenges, particularly those involving Non-resident Indian (NRI) voters and the estimated 10 to 15 lakh empty houses across the state.
South First recently reported data from Pathanamthitta showing that around 61,000 houses in the district alone are empty, largely because families have moved abroad, particularly to Gulf and European countries.
Local authorities acknowledge this figure, but sources suggest the actual number could be double or even triple the official count.
The Building Statistics Report (2021–22) by the Directorate of Economics and Statistics estimates that around 10 to 15 lakh homes across rural and urban Kerala remain unoccupied.
This trend is particularly evident among upper-middle-class and affluent households, notably Muslim families in the Malabar region and Christian families in Travancore, who make up a significant portion of Kerala’s NRI community.
Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar has said that Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will make three visits to every household to verify voter details as part of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
However, there appears to be a lack of clarity at the ground level.
“We’ve already discussed the issue with the BLOs, but the truth is they have no clear idea yet. We haven’t even finalised the Booth Level Agents who are supposed to accompany the BLOs during house visits to ensure transparency,” Congress leader and local body representative from Koipuram, Pathanamthitta, Roy Eapen A, told South First.
“The party has called a meeting on Tuesday, 4 November, to decide how to handle this, especially since Pathanamthitta has a large Middle East and European NRI population.”
Sreejith Irakkavu, a BLO in the state, explained the process of the door-to-door voter verification set to begin on Tuesday.
“The preliminary work began a month ago. The first phase of voter mapping has been completed. We compared the 2002 voters list with the new one and found several names missing from both – mainly NRIs and those who were not eligible to vote in 2002. We also mapped people aged 40 and below, along with their children,” he told South First.
Sreejith added that those not included in any existing list will need to sign an enumeration form, which will then be sent to the Election Commission.
“A draft list will be prepared and cross-verified with the people we mapped. One copy of the form will be kept by the voter and another by us,” he explained.
He clarified that BLOs are required to personally visit every household and cannot delegate the task.
“We have been exempted from other duties to dedicate ourselves fully to the SIR process. Most NRI homes are familiar to BLOs and neighbours, so we can verify their details through them,” he said.
Regarding the inclusion of NRIs, he noted that there is an online process.
“NRIs can register from abroad by uploading their details, including flat or house number, booth, constituency, and the serial number of other family members. However, it’s nearly impossible to personally inform every NRI, so awareness campaigns through media and social media are being intensified,” Sreejith said.
He admitted that forms cannot be distributed to closed homes or to voters living abroad, and that there is no specific option yet to mark such houses or hard-to-trace voters.
When asked about the inclusion of domestic migrant workers settling in Kerala, he clarified: “At this stage, we cannot add domestic migrants from other states to the voters list. They must have a valid ration card and a certificate from the panchayat secretary confirming permanent residence. But so far, we have received no instructions on including this group.”
Political analyst and senior psephologist G Gopakumar said the SIR process has a positive side, helping “clean up the voter list” by identifying those who have obtained permanent residency or foreign citizenship.
“However, we cannot ignore those who are abroad on work or student visas. Whether their homes in Kerala remain locked or not, and regardless of how often they return, it is their right to stay on the voters list,” he told South First.
“The Election Commission must clearly communicate the process to every NRI, ensuring that eligible voters are not removed arbitrarily. Many NRIs, especially from the Gulf, make it a point to return home to cast their vote, unlike most European migrants.”
He added that during the last Assembly elections, certain political parties had even arranged chartered flights to bring voters from abroad – “a move that may not align with democratic principles of inclusion,” he observed.
“While the absence of NRI votes may not greatly impact districts like Pathanamthitta or Kottayam, the situation could be different in the Malabar region, where Gulf NRIs play a decisive role. The verification process must be carried out with extreme care; missing even one eligible voter cannot be justified,” he added.
Mansoor Palloor, Middle East Convenor of the Overseas Congress Department, echoed Gopakumar and told South First that the issue goes beyond locked homes.
“The growing number of closed NRI homes in districts like Kozhikode and Pathanamthitta is not just a housing problem. Most NRIs visit their hometowns regularly and remain deeply connected to Kerala. Their remittances have powered the state’s progress for decades,” he said.
“A sudden and poorly explained implementation of the SIR, without understanding NRI realities, could unfairly remove thousands from the voters roll. We urge the government and the Election Commission to handle this with sensitivity and practical understanding. No Indian citizen living abroad should lose their democratic right,” he said.
Freddy V Francis, an NRI based in Spain and a popular social media influencer who ensures he casts his vote in every Lok Sabha and Assembly election, expressed concerns about the exercise.
“I haven’t received any information from local authorities. For NRIs like me, the media is the only source of updates. In the Middle East, many political parties and their overseas wings are active, so people there are more aware. But NRIs in other parts of the world hardly know what to do to stay on the revised voters list. With allegations of vote chori already in the air, there’s real fear of exclusion,” he told South First.
“We don’t even know which documents to submit or how to check if our names are included. There’s still a lot of confusion in this process.”
A Booth Level Agent from Kozhikode, who spoke to South First on condition of anonymity, said that voters included in the 2025 list but absent from the 2002 roll must submit documents only if their parents or grandparents were also not listed in 2002.
If neither the voter nor their parents are on that roll, one of the 12 ID proofs specified by the Election Commission is required. The final electoral roll will be published on Saturday, 7 February 2026, and corrections can be made before that date.
He expressed concern that in Malabar—where a large section of the migrant population belongs to the Muslim community—many eligible voters could be excluded under the new revision drive, which he alleged is part of Modi’s attempt to “purify” the rolls.
Such a move, he warned, could pave the way for the revival of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The use of the 2002 list as the base for the new SIR has been criticised as unscientific.
“As per new norms, those born after 1987 must prove one parent’s citizenship, and those born after 2003 must prove both – conditions that could deny voting rights to many unable to produce such documents,” he said.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
