CPI(M) flags anomalies in voter rolls, seeks clarity from election commission

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] on Friday (March 6, 2026) expressed strong doubts over the recently concluded Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls, alleging that the exercise had resulted in deletion of 19 lakh eligible voters from the list even as accommodating a large number of ineligible electors.

CPI(M) State secretariat member M.V. Jayarajan cited the discrepancy between the voter rolls prepared by the State Election Commission and the final roll published by the Election Commission of India (ECI) following the SIR to stress the party’s concerns. He said that, as per the rolls used for the local body elections, there are 2.84 crore voters in the State, while the post-SIR list had only 2.69 crore voters, including 4.24 lakh new electors.

He was addressing the media here after a meeting of representatives of political parties convened by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar. He is in the city to take stock of the situation ahead of the announcement of the Assembly elections.

He said the Chief Electoral Officer of the State was yet to explain the discrepancy. “The ECI had issued notices to 36.88 lakh voters to appear for a hearing. How many of them turned up for the hearing and how many cases were approved? It has not been made clear yet. Of them, 19.32 lakh, who had been included in the no-mapping category, were required to produce records to prove citizenship. It should also be explained how many of them took part in the hearing and how many were included in the final rolls,” Mr. Jayarajan added.

The CPI(M) leader alleged that 252 bogus voters were included in one polling station in the Thaliparamba constituency, and 32 such cases were detected in Kalamassery. He said that though the incidents were reported to election officials, the issues had not been rectified yet. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), meanwhile, submitted a memorandum to the CEC demanding the rectification of faults in the electoral rolls and the effective use of modern technology for the fair conduct of elections.

The AAP said house numbers had been given in order in the rolls, making it difficult to trace voters and detect duplication. The party suggested that the numbers be linked with the house numbers issued by local bodies.

The AAP also proposed an artificial intelligence-based system to monitor a candidate’s expenses and campaign materials, as well as a high-tech monitoring cell to prevent the use of deepfakes and fake messages.