Published Dec 19, 2025 | 8:40 PM ⚊ Updated Dec 19, 2025 | 8:40 PM
SIR in Tamil Nadu. (Representative image)
Synopsis: The Election Commission has said that claims and objections can be filed until 18 January, after which verification will continue until 10 February. The final electoral roll will be published on 17 February, 2026.
The draft electoral rolls released for Tamil Nadu following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise have revealed unprecedented deletions of voters across districts.
According to Election Commission data, 97,37,831 names have been removed from the rolls across the State, largely due to deaths, permanent migration, duplicate registrations and voters being untraceable during verification.
As per the draft rolls, 5,43,76,755 voters have been included statewide. Among them 2,77,06,332 are women voters, 2,66,63,233 are men, and 7,191 are transperson voters. The rolls also include 4,19,355 voters with disabilities.
Before the SIR exercise, Chennai had 40,04,694 voters. Following the revision, 14,25,018 voters were removed from the rolls.
Reasons for deletion in Chennai:
Among Assembly constituencies, the highest deletions were recorded in Velachery (1,27,521), Anna Nagar (1,18,287), Virugambakkam (1,10,824) and Kolathur (1,03,812).
In Coimbatore district, one of the sharpest declines in voter numbers was recorded. The draft electoral roll was released by District Collector and Electoral Officer Pavan Kumar in the presence of representatives of all political parties.
As of 27 October 2025, Coimbatore district had 32,25,198 voters. After completion of the SIR exercise, 6,50,590 voters were removed, bringing the total electorate down to 25,74,608.
The Collector urged voters to verify the draft rolls and submit applications for inclusion, correction or deletion within the stipulated period.
A total of 2,07,254 voters were removed from the rolls in Dharmapuri and Theni districts, accounting for around 8.57 percent of the combined electorate.
Dharmapuri
The district has 12,77,917 voters, of whom 81,515 (6.38 percent) were deleted, according to District Collector and Electoral Officer Sathees.
Theni
In Theni district, 1,25,739 voters were removed across four Assembly constituencies. Kambam recorded the highest deletions at 37,216.
The district’s electorate stands at 11,38,599, comprising 5,56,118 men and 5,82,276 women. Deletions accounted for 11.04 percent of voters.
Salem
In Salem district, deletions were reported across all 11 Assembly constituencies. The top four are:
Meanwhile, the number of polling stations in Salem has also increased from 3,264 to 3,468.
Tirunelveli
A total of 2,16,966 voters were deleted in Tirunelveli district. Major constituencies affected include:
Thanjavur
In Thanjavur, 2,06,503 voters—9.84 percent of the electorate—were removed from the rolls. The district earlier had 20,98,561 voters.
In Karur district, 79,690 voters were removed during the SIR exercise.
As per the draft electoral roll:
In Cuddalore district, 2,46,818 voters were removed from the electoral rolls during the revision process.
In Namakkal district too, covering six Assembly constituencies—Namakkal, Tiruchengode, Kumarapalayam, Paramathi Velur, Rasipuram and Senthamangalam—the electorate dropped sharply.
Before SIR, the district had 14,66,660 voters. After revision, the number stands at 12,72,954, indicating deletions of nearly 1.94 lakh voters.
In Krishnagiri district, 1,74,549 voters were removed from the rolls, according to District Collector and Electoral Officer Thookamurthy.
Reasons for deletion are, Deceased: 66,312, Untraceable: 18,023, Migrated: 1,00,201, Duplicate registrations: 8,636, Other/unspecified reasons: 534
Election officials said deletions across districts were largely due to:
Several districts, including Salem, Tiruvallur, Vellore and Tenkasi, have also seen increased number of polling stations to improve voter accessibility.
The Election Commission has said that claims and objections can be filed until 18 January, after which verification will continue until 10 February. The final electoral roll will be published on 17 February, 2026.
Under the SIR process statewide:
(Edited by Sumavarsha)
