By P. Sreekumaran
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala has decided to strongly oppose the Election Commission’s move to conduct a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the State. As a first step to protest against the EC’s decision, the State Assembly will pass a unanimous resolution against the rolls revision.
In a rare show of unanimity, the Opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) led by the Congress will extend its support to the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) Government’s decision to go ahead with passing a resolution against the EC’s move. Leader of the Opposition (LoP) V. D. Satheesan questioned the EC’s rationale for holding the SIR in the short run-up to the local bodies elections and the Assembly polls in 2026. Kerala, Satheesan pointed out, voted as per the electoral list based on the 2001 census. The EC has demanded the production of a range of documents, including birth and domicile certificates from voters seeking to re-register themselves on the upcoming list. The LoP expressed the fear that lakhs of voters, hard-pressed to produce such documents, are in danger of being disenfranchised.
Satheesan also pointed out that the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has exposed organized and well-entrenched digital voter list fraud on a scale which has caused utmost concern over the Election Commission’s integrity.
Announcing the move for SIR in the State, Chief Electoral Officer, Kerala, Rathan U. Kelkar said his office was awaiting the announcement on the SIR schedule for Kerala from the Election Commission, most likely in October. The Kerala office, he said, had been laying the groundwork for the exercise and had uploaded the rolls prepared under the 2002 intensive revision, the last time it was held in the State, on the CEO Kerala’s website. Kelkar also said that he would meet representatives of all political parties shortly.
Kerala will be the first state, after Bihar, to go in for special intensive revision of electoral rolls. He also sought to allay the fears that eligible voters would be left out of the rolls. “We do not feel that the SIR would affect any eligible citizen in Kerala. Complaints regarding the electoral rolls would be settled once and for all when the SIR is done,” he said, adding that the SIR would make the rolls “more sanitized and healthier”.
The last rolls revision in Kerala was done in 2002. The number of voters has since increased from 2.24 crore to 2.78 crore under the SSR 2025. Voters named in the 2002 rolls will automatically be part of the draft SIR rolls. The SIR will consider voters in three categories: those born before 1987, between 1987 and 2004 and after 2004, in line with amendments made to the Citizenship Act.
Kelkar also hinted at the possibility of the postal votes becoming a reality with the EC actively exploring its feasibility. His office, Kelkar said, had suggested the introduction of the facility for the upcoming Assembly elections in the State.
The vast majority of Non-Resident Indians (NRI electors were from Kerala, which has a large expatriate community, especially in West Asian nations. Kelkar said he was exploring the possibility of introducing postal ballots for overseas electors, and issuing them to the electors through the Indian Embassies.
Of the 1.2 lakh overseas electors from across India registered with the EC, for the Lok Sabha polls 89, 839 were from Kerala. Male voters accounted for the majority (83, 765), women (6,065), and transgender voters nine. At the time of 2019 Lok Sabha polls, 87, 648 NRI voters were registered in the Kerala rolls. The NRI voters’ number has shown a big increase to 90, 124. (IPA Service)
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