The Election Commission has reiterated that January 30 is the final date to apply for voter enrolment and corrections in Tamil Nadu amid scrutiny over large-scale deletions in draft rolls.

Chennai: The Election Commission of India has reminded voters in Tamil Nadu that the extended deadline for inclusion and correction of names in the electoral rolls under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) ends on January 30.

Eligible citizens seeking new registration were required to submit Form 6, while existing voters had to use Form 8 for corrections such as address changes. As of January 27, officials said over 16 lakh applications had been received across the state.

The SIR exercise, underway since November 4 as part of preparations for the upcoming Assembly elections, has drawn attention after the draft rolls released on December 19 showed the deletion of more than 97 lakh names. This brought Tamil Nadu’s voter count down sharply from over 6.41 crore to about 5.43 crore.

Data analysis has pointed to unusual deletion patterns in certain districts, including a high number of removals attributed to voters shifting residence or being marked absent, with urban clusters such as Chennai accounting for a significant share of deletions. More than half of the removed names were concentrated in eight districts across two major regions.Analysis: With the January 30 deadline approaching, voter awareness becomes critical to prevent eligible citizens from being left out. While the Commission maintains the process is routine, the scale of deletions has heightened calls for vigilance to safeguard universal adult franchise. This contextual assessment is analytical opinion; all factual details above are drawn from the original report.