Fri Jan 31 18:36:58 UTC 2025: ## Chennai Electoral Roll Errors Lead to Low Response Rate on Duplicate Entry Notices

**Chennai, February 1, 2025** – A significant portion of notices sent to Chennai residents regarding duplicate entries on the electoral rolls have gone unanswered, leading to concerns about the accuracy of the voter list. Of the 288,603 residents identified with multiple entries, over 42% (122,318) of the notices were returned undelivered, primarily due to residents not being found at their registered addresses. Only around 2% of those who received notices responded.

Many residents reported receiving notices despite having only one registration. Velachery resident V. Kamakshi and Villivakkam resident Ashok Kumar are among those who received incorrect notifications. Anna Nagar councillor T.V. Shemmmozhi stated that the confusion caused by these erroneous notices has led to residents seeking clarification at councillor offices.

The electoral registration officers (EROs) attribute the high number of undelivered notices to the postal department, which cited “persons not found” as the reason for return. A 15-day period was given for residents to respond to the notices. The system flagged potential duplicates based on name, father’s name, age, gender, and address.

While the system initially identified 288,603 potential duplicate entries, booth-level officers (BLOs) have only verified 274 cases of permanent relocation. Velachery constituency had the highest number of undelivered notices (13,465 out of 24,642), followed by Saidapet (13,465 out of 23,966). Harbour constituency had the lowest (2,597 out of 8,252).

Election officials plan to conduct further verification at the addresses before removing any names from the electoral rolls, adhering to standard operating procedures.

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