Tamil Nadu SIR: Unusual patterns in deleted electors list

An analysis of the Chief Electoral Officer, Tamil Nadu’s polling station-level list of over 97 lakh deleted electors in Tamil Nadu reveals several anomalies that require closer examination. The analysis reveals eight distinct categories of anomalies.

The State has provided data on deleted electors for each Assembly Constituency at the polling station-level. In total, data from 75,018 polling stations were analysed. A polling station is different from a polling centre. A centre can have multiple polling stations. In the lists provided below, the names of the polling stations, the name of the Assembly constituency, and the name of the district are mentioned in that order.

Here are some of our key findings:

• 14 stations show unusually high proportions of young deaths

• 35 stations show high gender bias in deletions

• 8,613 stations have abnormally high deletion rates

• 727 stations report excessive deaths

• 3,904 polling stations show high death proportions

• 495 polling stations show 100% death-based deletions

• 6,139 parts have high numbers of “absent” voters

• 172 parts show suspicious patterns of “permanently shifted” women

Young deaths

Pattern: Polling stations where more than 50 people are recorded as deceased, with at least half being under 50 years of age. The data reveals 14 polling stations across the State where death patterns defy demographic norms. In typical populations, deaths are heavily skewed towards older age groups, making high proportions of young deaths statistically anomalous.

Top five stations:

1. Government Model Higher Secondary School, Madavaram, Thiruvallur: 58 total deaths, 49 under the age of 50 (84%)
2. Thooyavalanar Girls Higher Secondary School, Mannargudi, Thiruvarur: 111 total deaths, 65 under the age of 50 (58%)
3. Tambaram Corporation Primary School, Pallavaram, Chengalpattu: 51 total deaths, 29 under the age of 50 (56%)
4. Panchayat Union Middle School, Thiruvidaimarudur, Thanjavur: 131 total deaths, 74 under the age of 50 (56%)
5. Panchayat Union Primary School, Nanguneri, Tirunelveli: 130 total deaths, 73 under the age of 50 (56%)

High gender bias in deletions

Pattern: Polling stations where at least 50 women were deleted, with women comprising 75% or more of all deletions. Data showed there are 35 such polling stations.

Top five stations:

1. St. Susai Primary School, Tiruchendur, Thoothukudi : 110 total deletions, 95 women (86%)
2. Panchayat Union Primary School, Kilvelur, Nagapattinam: 74 total deletions, 61 women (82%)
3. Panchayat Union Primary School, Poompuhar, Mayiladuthurai : 66 total deletions, 54 women (82%)
4. Sri Vivekananda’s Aided Initiation, Thiruvarur, Thiruvarur: 73 total deletions, 59 women (81%)
5. Ooratchi Union Primary School, Orathanadu, Thanjavur : 62 total deletions, 50 women (81%)

Abnormally high deletion rates

Pattern: Polling stations with more than 260 deletions (double the average number of deletions in one polling station in Tamil Nadu), far exceeding typical rates. In 8,613 stations, more than 260 electors were deleted, representing the massive scale of deletions.

Top five stations:

1. NLC Higher Secondary School, Bhuvanagiri, Cuddalore: 861 total deletions
2. C.S.I. Monahan Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni, Chennai : 835 total deletions
3. Jaigopal Garodia Vivekananda Vidyalaya, Anna Nagar, Chennai: 817 total deletions
4. Dwarakadas Govardhandas Vaishnava College, Anna Nagar, Chennai: 814 total deletions
5. Children’s Paradise School, Velachery, Chennai: 783 total deletions

Excessive death reports

Pattern: Polling stations where more than 108 deaths — three times the average number of deletions due to deaths in one station in Tamil Nadu — have been reported. This pattern is observed in 727 stations.

Top five stations:

1. Panchayat Union Primary School, Avanashi, Tiruppur: 216 deaths
2. O.O. Middle School, Dharapuram, Tiruppur: 207 deaths
3. Government High School, Madathukulam, Tiruppur: 205 deaths
4. Government Kallar Higher Secondary School, Usilampatti, Madurai: 196 deaths
5. O.O.N. Primary School, Dharapuram, Tiruppur: 194 deaths

High death proportions

Pattern: These are stations where at least 75% of deletions are attributed to deaths. In 3,904 stations, deletions due to death exceeded typical demographic change patterns.

Top five stations:

1. Govt Primary school, Papanasam, Thanjavur (99.2% electors deletions attributed to deaths)
2. Panchayat Union Primary School, Thiruvidaimardur, Thanjavur (99.2% electors deletions attributed to deaths)
3. Thiruvalluvar aided primary school, Thiruvaiyaru, Thanjavur (99% electors deletions attributed to deaths)
4. Govt High school, Ramanathapuram, Ramanathapuram: (98.9% electors deletions attributed to deaths)
5. St. Arulappar higher secondary school, Tenkasi, Tenkasi: 98.9% electors deletions attributed to deaths

All deletions due to death

Pattern: In several polling stations, all deletions have been attributed to deaths. This pattern is observed in 495 stations across 103 Assembly seats.

Top five stations:

1. Panchayat Union Middle School, Thirumangalam, Madurai: 142 electors deleted. The reasons for all were attributed to deaths
2. Panchayat Union Middle School, Sivaganga, Sivaganga: 134 electors deleted
3. Panchayat Union Middle School, Thiruvidaimarudur, Thanjavur: 131 electors deleted
4. Panchayat Union Primary School, Papanasam, Thanjavur: 131 electors deleted
5. Integrated Child Development Center, Tirunelveli, Tirunelveli: 119 electors deleted

Mass “absent” classifications

Pattern: Across the list of deleted electors, on average 37 per station are deleted for not being present at the given residence. There are 6,139 polling stations where more than 74 voters (double the average) were deleted as they were absent.

Top five stations:

1. Prince Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Shozhinganallur, Chengalpattu: 549 electors not residing
2. N.S.N. Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Pallavaram, Chengalpattu: 505 electors not residing
3. Government Higher Secondary School, Maduravoyal, Thiruvallur: 503 electors not residing
4. Sunbeam Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Shozhinganallur, Chengalpattu: 478 electors not residing
5. Government Higher Secondary School, Alandur, Kancheepuram: 450 electors not residing

Polling stations with an unusually high number of women shifted

Pattern: These are the polling stations where the number of those deleted because they had permanently shifted is higher than average. Of these stations, in 172 women make up at least 75% of those deleted.

Select stations:

1. Walker Higher Secondary School, Nanguneri, Tirunelveli: 218 shifted electors, 172 are women (78.8%)
2. Union Primary School, Shozhinganallur, Chengalpattu: 192 shifted electors, 151 are women (78.6%)
3. Panchayat Union Primary School, Poompuhar, Mayiladuthurai: 172 shifted electors, 131 are women (76.1%)
4. Chennai primary school, Thiruvottriyur, Thiruvallur: 132 shifted electors, 101 are women (76.5%)
5. Panchayat Middle School, Poonamallee, Thiruvallur: 125 shifted electors, 96 women (76.8%)

The PDFs of each polling station was downloaded from the TN Election Commission website and then translated to look at elector-level data. For analysis this data was then aggregated and queried