Parties seek exemption from voter hearings during SIR of electoral rolls in Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 27 (PTI) Political parties on Saturday requested the Kerala CEO to minimise hearings of voters as part of the SIR of the electoral rolls.

The request was raised during a meeting convened by Chief Electoral Officer Ratan U Kelkar with representatives of political parties as part of the SIR process.

At present, over 19.32 lakh voters have to file documents because they were not included in the 2002 voters' list, which is being used as the base list for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the southern state.

Political parties expressed concern about the difficulties voters may face if hearings are held by Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) after notices are issued.

They urged the EC to allow voters to submit identification documents online and sought virtual hearings for convenience.

They also objected to the use of caste certificates as proof when voters are summoned for hearings.

However, the BJP demanded that hearings should be conducted as part of the SIR to achieve its objectives.

Kelkar said the decision on calling voters for hearings rests with the EROs.

"We are not looking to hear all persons. If documents submitted by those issued notices are found satisfactory, the EROs can decide not to hear such persons," he said.

The ruling CPI(M) was represented by M Vijayakumar, while J R Padmakumar appeared for the BJP.

Congress representative M K Rahman pointed out at the alleged discrepancies in the recently released draft voters’ list.

UDF leaders also raised concerns about the meeting's purpose, alleging that suggestions from political parties were not being considered.

In response, Kelkar said that if political parties viewed the meetings as a meaningless exercise, they could be discontinued from next week.

However, political parties decided to meet again next week to review the SIR procedure.

A total of 2,54,42,352 voters have been included in the draft list, while the names of 24,08,503 electors were removed after completion of the enumeration stage.

Voters can file claims and objections to the draft electoral rolls till January 22, 2026. PTI TBA TBA SA