SIR in Tamil Nadu: Election Commission extends deadline for filing claims and objections till January 30

Chennai: Heeding to demands from various political parties, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday extended to January 30 the period for filing claims and objections in connection with the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Tamil Nadu.  

However, the date for the release of the final electoral rolls continues to remain February 17. The extension of the period for filing claims and objections came a day after the original deadline for the same ended on Sunday. 

“The Election Commission of India has decided to extend the period for filing claims and objections up to 30.01.2026 in connection with the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in the State of Tamil Nadu,” a communique from the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) said. 

By Sunday, as many as 13.03 lakh people had filed Form 6 (enrolling as a new voter) and about 35,000 to remove their names from the list. Sources said almost all political parties petitioned the ECI to extend the last date for the process to enable more people to enroll as new voters or file objections and claims.

The ECI said the final voters list will be released on February 17 as scheduled. Tamil Nadu is due for Assembly elections in April-May.

Names of a whooping 97.37 lakh voters were dropped in the draft electoral rolls at the end of the first phase of SIR on December 19. Of this, as many as 66.4 lakh voters have shifted their residences, 26.9 lakh are dead and 3.98 lakh have enrolled at multiple places. 

As expected, women outnumbered men in the number of voters in the draft list as well with 2.66 crore men voters and 2.77 crore women voters. The number of third gender voters is 7,191. 

The total number of voters as per draft rolls is 5,43,76,755 as against 6,41,14587 voters when the SIR began on November 4.