For the ongoing exercise in Tamil Nadu, the ECI has appointed 68,467 Booth Level Officers (BLOs) to cover the state’s 6.41 crore voters.
Published Nov 05, 2025 | 9:00 AM ⚊ Updated Nov 05, 2025 | 9:15 AM
The ECI has said that Tamil Nadu currently has 6,41,15,000 (6.41 crore) registered electors.
Synopsis: Nearly 2.3 crore voters in Tamil Nadu risk being left out of the electoral rolls as the State Election Commission begins a month-long Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise to verify and update the list of 6.41 crore electors. With just 68,467 Booth Level Officers tasked to visit every household by 4 December, questions remain over the feasibility of reaching all voters and ensuring that none are excluded from the rolls.
The Tamil Nadu State Election Commission on Tuesday, 4 November, began the contentious Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls across the state.
The month-long revision, which will continue until 4 December, is aimed, according to the Election Commission of India (ECI), at ensuring that all eligible citizens aged 18 and above who are ordinarily resident in a constituency are included in the electoral roll.
The exercise also seeks to remove ineligible entries such as non-citizens, duplicate names, deceased persons, and migrants who are no longer resident, in order to maintain the accuracy and integrity of the rolls.
For the ongoing exercise in Tamil Nadu, the ECI has appointed 68,467 Booth Level Officers (BLOs) to cover the state’s 6.41 crore voters.
The SIR, first carried out in Bihar earlier this year, has drawn criticism from Opposition parties, including Tamil Nadu’s ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), who allege that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Union government is using the exercise to disenfranchise sections of the electorate.
Beyond these allegations, the feasibility of the exercise has also raised serious concerns. Can just 68,467 BLOs enumerate and verify 6.41 crore voters in the state within 30 days? And if voters are not contacted, will they still retain their voting rights?
The ECI conducts national and state elections every five years and also oversees various other elections within states at different intervals. For each election, it adds new voters, updates addresses and other details, corrects the electoral roll, and removes the names of deceased persons.
Beyond these routine updates, the commission also undertakes a focused revision of electoral rolls during specified periods in states under central administration. This process, known as the SIR, is provided for under the Constitution.
Earlier SIRs were held in several Indian states and Union Territories between 2002 and 2005; in Tamil Nadu, the exercise ran from 1 November 2002 to 1 November 2005.
After nearly 23 years, Bihar underwent a SIR of electoral rolls in June 2025. Opposition parties accused the ECI of using SIR to target voters unfavourable to the BJP.
The main opposition party in Bihar, the RJD led by Tejashwi Yadav, claimed that about 65 lakh voters were deleted. The ECI confirmed the deletions, and the Supreme Court later ordered the poll body to publish the names and reasons for these deletions.
The Congress alleged that more than 23 lakh women were removed, while there have been specific accusations that Dalit and Muslim voters have been systematically excluded.
Several petitions challenging that exercise are currently pending before the Supreme Court. Ahead of SIR beginning in Tamil Nadu, the ruling DMK filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the constitutional validity of the SIR process, citing the risk of large-scale voter disenfranchisement.
From 5 December to 8 December, authorities will update the control table and prepare the draft electoral rolls. The draft roll will be published on 9 December. From that date until 8 January 2026, members of the public may file claims and objections.
After processing these submissions, final revisions will be carried out, and the final electoral roll will be published on 7 February 2026, the Election Commission has announced.
During the SIR period, BLOs will go door to door, handing each elector two printed copies of the voter form pre-filled with available details and asking them to complete and return one copy.
If no one is at home, the form will be left at the house, and the BLO must visit that household at least three times to collect the completed form. If a voter takes the form home but cannot fill it out immediately, the BLO is required to revisit later to collect the completed form.
Although voters can submit their forms online, the BLO will still verify the supporting documents at the voter’s residence.
Once collected, the BLO must upload the forms and supporting documents—including any documents proposed for removal—through the ECI’s mobile application for polling-station-level officers. In addition, these documents must also be physically submitted to the Electoral Registration Officer or the Assistant Electoral Registration Officer.
If voters do not submit their forms before 4 December, they may still apply for inclusion in the electoral roll during the claims and objections period by filing Form 6 along with the prescribed Declaration Form, in accordance with the Commission’s guidelines.
The ECI has said that Tamil Nadu currently has 6,41,15,000 (6.41 crore) registered electors.
According to the 2011 Census, the state’s population was 7.2 crore; current estimates place it closer to 10 crore. Assuming an average household size of four, Tamil Nadu would have roughly 2.5 crore households.
If the 68,467 BLOs appointed by the Commission are expected to visit all 2.5 crore households within 30 days, each BLO would need to cover about 365 households in that period – effectively one household for every day of the year.
Alternatively, if the calculation is based on the Election Commission’s voter total of 6.41 crore and the same average household size of four, Tamil Nadu would have about 1.60 crore households. Dividing these among 68,467 BLOs gives each officer responsibility for around 234 households during the 30-day period.
Representatives from recognised political parties, known as Booth Level Agents (BLAs), can assist BLOs by returning completed forms. However, the final verification of forms and documents, as well as the uploads to the Election Commission’s system, remain the BLO’s responsibility.
Given the Commission’s timeline for the exercise, each BLO must personally visit either 365 or 234 households – depending on which population estimate is used – and is required to visit each household at least three times.
Whether such a target is feasible for a detailed verification process like the SIR remains an open question.
N Gurusami, a retired government school headmaster who has worked with the Election Commission in various roles, including as a BLO, from 1988 to 2014 across multiple assignments in the Thiruvaiyaru region, said that although he had participated in the Special Intensive Revision conducted in 2002, the current exercise is unlike anything he has seen before.
“Back then, it was not necessary to carry printed forms and go house to house to get them filled. In my experience, we never had an exercise like this before. For the first time, we are required to verify documents and distribute forms door to door,” he told South First.
“A BLO could possibly meet 150 to 200 households; it depends on their speed. But for an intensive revision like this, meeting 150 households in a month would be a lot,” he added.
As Gurusami noted, if a BLO can reach 150 households a month, then in one month the 68,467 BLOs could collectively visit only about 1.03 crore households – reaching roughly 4.11 crore voters.
Based on rough population estimates, this would mean around 1.47 crore households, or 5.89 crore voters, may not be contacted. Even using the voter-based household estimate, the BLOs would still be unable to reach about 57,28,750 households – leaving approximately 2.30 crore voters potentially unreached.
Retired IAS officer G Balachandran, who has worked in various states, told South First it is “theoretically possible” for 68,467 Booth Level Officers to reach 6.41 crore people within a month.
“In every polling station, voters may vary between 1000 and 1200. Is it not possible for a BLO to cover 50 voters per day? One household will carry 2-3 voters minimum. Thus, they can easily complete the exercise in a maximum of 20 days,” he said.
Former Chief Election Commissioner of India, N Gopalaswami, also believes the task can be completed.
“When we look at the total number of voters and the number of BLOs, it may seem overwhelming. But if you break it down mathematically, a BLO can cover at least 250 to 300 houses within 20 to 25 days. So it is possible,” he told South First.
“In a metropolitan city like Chennai, 250 houses may mean just one street. So a BLO can easily cover that.”
Quoting a Tamil proverb, “For the frightened, everything looks like a ghost,” he said, “Those who believe it can be done will do it. Those who oppose it will never be able to do it.”
Comparing Tamil Nadu with Bihar, he observed, “In Bihar, the earlier SIR was not done properly, and that made it difficult this time. But in Tamil Nadu, the previous SIR was conducted in an orderly manner. So the process will be easier now. Using past data, it will be simpler to trace voters and create updated records.”
He added, “You should not create a problem for every solution. A solution can be found if you are interested in finding one. But if you are only interested in finding a problem, you will always find a problem for a solution.”
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
