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 electoral rolls, alleging that the exercise resulted in the deletion of 19 million eligible voters from the roll even as it accommodated a large number of ineligible voters.
CPI(M) state secretariat member MV Jayarajan cited the discrepancy between the voter lists prepared by the State Election Commission and the final list released by the Election Commission of India (ECI) after the SIR to highlight the party’s concerns. He said that according to the lists used for local body elections, there are 2.84 lakh voters in the state, while the post-SIR list had only 2.69 lakh voters, including 4.24 lakh new voters.
He was addressing the media here after a meeting of representatives of political parties convened by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar. The city needs to assess the situation before the council elections are announced.
He said that the chief electoral officer of the state has yet to explain the irregularities. “ECI issued summons to 36.88 lakh voters to appear for the hearing. How many of them turned up for the hearing and how many cases were cleared? It was not yet clear. Out of them, 19.32 lakh who were included in the non-mapping category had to submit records to prove their citizenship. It should also be clarified how many of them attended the hearing and how many of them attended the hearing.
The CPI(M) leader alleged that 252 fake voters were involved in one polling booth in Thaliparamba constituency and 32 such cases were detected in Kalamassery. He said that although the incidents had been reported to election officials, the issues had not yet been rectified. Meanwhile, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) submitted a memorandum to the CEC demanding correction of errors in electoral rolls and effective use of modern technology for fair conduct of elections.
The AAP said the house numbers were listed in order in the lists, making it difficult to trace voters and detect duplication. The party proposed that the numbers be linked to house numbers issued by local authorities.
The AAP has also proposed an AI-based system to monitor candidate expenditure and campaign materials, as well as a high-tech monitoring cell to prevent the use of fake news and fake news.
Published – 06 Mar 2026 21:06 IST
