Tamil Nadu electorate grows by 6.35 lakh since February 23; scrutiny of nominations begins

The Election Commission of India (EC) has revised the electorate of Tamil Nadu to 5.73 crore, registering an increase of 6.35 lakh since February 23. Of the 6.35 lakh, only 2.08 lakh are in the 18-19 age group. Chennai (an increase of 2.21%), Chengalpattu (1.98%), Coimbatore (1.77%), Tiruvallur (1.67%) and Tiruppur (1.46%) were the top five districts that recorded an increase in the number of electors.

Meanwhile, on April 7, all the nominations received for the Tamil Nadu Assembly election, between March 30 and April 6, were scrutinised by the respective Returning Officers. As of 8 p.m. on Tuesday, of the 7,599 applications received in the 234 Assembly constituencies, 3,585 were accepted and 1,671 were rejected and five stood withdrawn. Nominations of a majority of candidates fielded by major political parties were accepted. The last date for the withdrawal of nominations is April 9.

TVK candidate rejected

In the Edappadi constituency, where former Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami is contesting, the nominations of the TVK candidate, M. Arunkumar, and his substitute were rejected. When their nominations were scrutinised, the AIADMK representatives opposed Mr. Arunkumar’s nomination, citing discrepancies in it. They also pointed out discrepancies in the nomination papers filed by his wife and dummy candidate A. Nithya.

Following this, Mr. Arunkumar, who was at the taluk office, left saying he shall produce additional documents later. But he did not return to the office, and later, it was found his mobile phone had reportedly been switched off.

Subsequently, the TVK cadre alleged that Mr. Arunkumar had been abducted. Since Mr. Arunkumar ultimately did not return with the documents, the Returning Officer said both his and his wife’s nominations stood rejected.

The inclusion of 6,35,911 entries in the electoral rolls in the State followed the receipt of applications for inclusion between February 23 and March 26 this year. As of April 6, the electoral roll in Tamil Nadu, includes 2,93,04,905 women electors, 2,80,30,658 men electors, and 7,728 electors from the third gender.

This included over 1.19 crore electors in the 40-49 age group, 1.16 crore electors in the 30-39 age group, and 1.07 crore in the 20-29 age group. About 1.03 crore are in the 50-59 age group, about 67.69 lakh in the 60-69 age group and over 34.35 lakh are in the 70-79 age group. About 14.59 lakh electors are in the 18-19 age group, and over 10.62 lakh of voters are either 80 years of age or above. Though women electors are more than men in 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70-79 age groups and in 80+ age groups, there are more men than women in the 18-19 and 20-29 age groups.

As on October 27, 2025, there were 6,41,14,587 electors enrolled in the electoral roll. After the completion of the enumeration phase under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) 2026, the draft roll was published on December 19, 2025, and it had 5,43,76,756.

During the period for filing of claims and objections between December 19, 2025, and January 30, 2026, over 27.53 lakh eligible electors were included and 4.23 lakh ineligible electors were deleted from the rolls.

As per the final electoral roll published on February 23 this year, the electorate in Tamil Nadu stood at 5,67,07,380. Since February 23, a total of 6,48,285 applications have been received for inclusion in the electoral roll till March 26. Of the 6.48 lakh applications received, 6.35 lakh applications were accepted and the entries were included in the electoral roll and it stood at 5,73,43,291, as of April 6.

Published – April 08, 2026 12:29 am IST