SIR in T.N. leads to deletion of 2.6 lakh more women than men from electoral rolls

Analysis of Tamil Nadu’s electoral rolls after completion of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise shows that around 2.6 lakh more women than men have been deleted from the Draft Electoral Roll.

More than 49.9 lakh women were deleted from pre-SIR records. In contrast, 47.3 lakh men were deleted. These figures are reached by collecting polling-level data announced by the State Election Commission. The Draft Electoral Roll released on Friday recorded a total of around 97.3 lakh deletions.

This gender divide, where more women than men are erased, is not new. The Hindu Data Team also found a similar skew in Bihar’s 2025 SIR application; Seven lakh more women than men were deleted here. But the situation is different in Tamil Nadu as women have a higher share among the State’s voters, at least in recent years. This was not the case in Bihar; As far as voters were concerned, men significantly outnumbered women.

At the beginning of 2025, women voters outnumbered men by more than 12 lakh in Tamil Nadu in January. Just before the SIR process, the difference was around 13 lakhs. By the end of the year, in December, this gap had narrowed to around 10.4 lakh as more women were deleted from the rolls. After the implementation of SIR, approximately 2.77 crore voters in Tamil Nadu are women and 2.66 crore are men.

Gender divides were more pronounced in some Assembly constituencies. Particularly in Vedaranyam, Kilvelur, Thiruthuraipoondi, Poompuhar, Uthiramerur and Tiruvarur, women accounted for more than 55% of all deletions.

A reasonable analysis of deletions reveals that gender skewness may result from marriage-related migration. Approximately 55% of those deleted due to permanent relocation or not residing at the address were women. Women accounted for only 43% of those expunged as “deceased” and slightly less than 50% of those expunged for cheating. In other words, it seems that women are predominant in deletion for migration-related reasons.

Age-based analyzes also confirm the same thing. Close to 90% or more of young women aged 18-29 and 30-39 have been deleted for migration-related reasons. The sharp decrease in the share of write-offs due to migration-related reasons as women get older indicates that marriage-related migration may be a problem for the younger generation.