Kerala SIR: Hearings phase concludes

The hearings and verification phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll ended in Kerala on Saturday, indicating that the SIR exercise is drawing to a close in the State.

The final roll will be published on February 21 as per the schedule published by the Election Commission of India (EC). Till Friday, close to 40,000 people had been eliminated from the roll following hearings. Definitive data on the exclusions are expected to be out in the coming days. Excluded individuals include voters who died during the SIR enumeration phase, people who have relinquished citizenship or moved to other places.

Notices were issued to 36,88,948 people who were in the ‘no mapping’ and ‘logical discrepancies’ lists and their hearings have been completed, Chief Electoral Officer (Kerala) Rathan U. Kelkar said. The SIR data was being compiled and the details would be released soon, he said. Mr. Kelkar has scheduled a meeting with political parties on Tuesday.

The house-to-house enumeration phase of the SIR had kicked off in the State on November 4, 2025. Under the original schedule of the EC, the hearings and verification was to be held from December 9 to January 31, 2026, with the final rolls to be published on February 7. But the schedule was later revised by the EC following repeated demands from the political parties and the State government and the intervention of the Supreme Court.

At the conclusion of the house-to-house enumeration phase of the Kerala SIR, the names of 24.08 lakh voters stood deleted in the draft rolls published on December 23. In all, 2.54 crore voters figured in the draft roll. As many as 19.32 lakh voters in the draft roll also figured in the ‘unmapped’ list.