New Delhi: Following a request by the Kerala government, the Election Commission has extended the schedule for the ongoing 'special intensive revision' of electoral rolls in the state by a week.

This comes after the Supreme Court, hearing a petition by Kerala MLA P.K. Kunhalikutty, on the coinciding of the SIR exercise and the local body polls in the state, allowed the Kerala government to approach the EC asking for a short extension.

Voters can now submit enumeration forms till December 18 instead of the earlier deadline of December 11. Local body polls are going to take place on December 9 and 11 in Kerala.

The draft rolls in Kerala will be published on December 23. Claims and objections against them can be filed until January 22 in the new year.

The final rolls will be published by February 21, 2026.

“The Commission, after carefully taking due note of the submission made by the Chief Secretary and Chief Electoral Officer, Kerala has decided to revise the SIR schedule for the State of Kerala by extending the relevant dates by one week,” the EC's order says.

As per the EC's latest press release on December 5, Kerala voters have submitted 2,65,34,021 enumeration forms – accounting for 95.27% of the total. Among the 12 states and Union territories where the SIR exercise is happening, Kerala's percentage is the second-lowest. The lowest is Uttar Pradesh, which is at 91.98%.

As many as 2,77,09,286 or 99.49% of enumeration forms have been distributed in Kerala, the EC said.

As per the EC's initial schedule, announced on October 27, the enumeration phase was supposed to end on December 4. On November 30, the EC extended the schedule for all states and Union territories by a week.

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