CHENNAI: The number of polling stations in Tamil Nadu has increased roughly by 10% - from 68,467 to 75,035 - after the booth rationalisation exercise undertaken as part of the Special Intensive Revision of Electoral Rolls currently under way in the state, a release by the Chief Electoral Officer said on Wednesday. With the enumeration phase of the SIR ending on Thursday and the draft electoral rolls expected to be published on Tuesday, sources said the draft rolls will be as per the rationalised new list of polling stations.
According to a press statement, all 234 Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and 38 District Election Officers (DEOs) held consultations with recognised political parties before finalising the list of polling stations. The proposals were framed based on key criteria, including creation of new stations in locations with more than 1,200 electors, rearrangement of sections, change of building or location, change in nomenclature and merger of stations.
The statement further read that the rationalisation ensured that no voter travels more than 2km to vote, that stations are not located in restricted premises such as police stations or religious sites, and that no political party office lies within 200m.
Before the exercise, Tamil Nadu had 68,467 polling stations. The state has now added 6,648 new stations, merged 80, shifted 2,509, and rearranged sections in 7,752 locations, resulting in a net increase of 6,568 stations. According to another press statement, as of December 10, 99.99% enumeration forms were distributed and 99.95% were digitised. Meanwhile, ahead of the 2026 assembly polls, the state CEO held a review meeting with 15 departments on security arrangements and other election-related tasks.