Kerala’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has hit a rocky patch. Out of 2.78 crore voters given forms during the house-to-house check, 24.08 lakh were left out in the draft roll published on December 23. Another 19.32 lakh voters remain stuck in a 'no mapping' limbo, as they could not be connected to the baseline 2002 SIR roll. The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) office said election staff have sent 17.71 lakh notices to voters to file claims or objections, and served 18,915 notices for the 'no mapping' group. Voters excluded, if eligible, can still enroll using Form 6 or Form 6A for overseas voters. But political parties and citizens are upset. They say many active voters were wrongly marked as 'Untraceable' or 'EF Refused' (voters who refused or did not return forms) and deleted from the list. Some polling areas showed over 500 voters listed as untraceable or shifted, raising doubts. Political parties accuse the Election Commission of India (ECI) and SIR process of causing injustice and shaking voters’ trust by questioning their citizenship. The large number of Kerala expatriates makes the issue unique. Parties demand that overseas voters get better inclusion and want authorized representatives to appear for them at hearings. The SIR also overlapped with the 2025 local body elections. The State Election Commission had 2.86 crore voters listed for December polls, while the ECI’s SIR draft list dropped voters from 2.78 crore to 2.54 crore, deepening the controversy. Kerala’s CEO Rathan U. Kelkar has held weekly meetings with political groups and assured all eligible voters will be on the final list set for February 21. He promised no harassment during hearings. Still, a trust gap remains. Political parties mainly in the LDF and UDF accuse the BJP and RSS of using the SIR for political gains. With Kerala struggling for extensions on the SIR timeline, public doubts about fairness have grown. Historically, election and census exercises have been trusted. Now, all eyes are on the final voter list and whether the SIR can regain public confidence in Kerala.