Chennai, Jan 3 : Special camps to facilitate voter registration are being held across Tamil Nadu for two days, beginning on Saturday, as part of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls.

The initiative comes in the wake of a large-scale revision exercise that has resulted in the removal of a significant number of names from the state's voter list.

According to official data, around 97.37 lakh names have been deleted from the electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision carried out in Tamil Nadu.

As a result, the total number of registered voters in the State has declined to approximately 5.43 crore.

The revision exercise aims to ensure greater accuracy in the voter database by removing duplicate, deceased, or ineligible entries.

In this context, the process for adding new names to the voter list began on December 19.

As part of this drive, special registration camps were organised earlier on December 27 and 28 at nearly 75,000 polling booths across the State, enabling eligible citizens to submit applications for inclusion or correction of their details.

Officials said that the response so far has been encouraging. Up to now, 7.37 lakh people have applied for inclusion of their names in the electoral rolls, while 9,535 applications have been received seeking deletion of names.

To further widen outreach and ensure maximum participation, special camps are once again being conducted today and tomorrow at all polling booths across Tamil Nadu.

Election authorities have urged eligible citizens to use this opportunity, particularly those who have recently attained voting age or whose names were removed during the revision process.

Individuals who completed 18 years of age on January 1 this year, as well as those whose names were deleted during the SIR exercise, have been advised to submit Form 6 for inclusion in the voter list.

Officials also outlined the upcoming schedule for the revision process.

Special correction camps will be held on January 18 to allow voters to seek rectifications in the draft electoral rolls. Following this, the final voter list will be published on February 17.

The Election Department has reiterated that an accurate and up-to-date voter list is essential for free and fair elections, and has appealed to all eligible citizens to actively participate in the revision process and verify their electoral details within the stipulated timelines.

/IANS