Tamil Nadu will have 75,088 polling stations after an Election Commission-approved restructuring exercise, with 56 stations added and 357 relocated ahead of the electoral roll revision scheduled from October 15, 2026, to January 4, 2027.
Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer Archana Patnaik said the revised number was finalised after polling station rationalisation and the creation of new polling station sections across the state. The process was carried out in accordance with directions from the Election Commission of India.
The restructuring aims to keep the number of voters assigned to each polling station below 1,200. Before the exercise, Tamil Nadu had 75,032 polling stations. The revised total represents a net increase of 56 stations across the state.
The final list was prepared after district election officers submitted their proposals and political parties’ recommendations were considered, according to the report. The completed list was then sent to the Chief Election Commission for approval and has now been cleared.
Alongside the addition of 56 polling stations, 78 existing stations have been merged and 357 stations have been shifted to new locations. The changes mean that the location and allocation of polling stations may differ for some voters when the revised electoral arrangements are published.
Polling station rationalisation is an administrative exercise that links the electoral roll with the physical locations where voters cast their ballots. It involves determining how voter sections are distributed, how many electors are assigned to each station and whether existing locations remain suitable for the revised arrangement.
The ceiling of fewer than 1,200 voters per polling station is the key operational benchmark cited in the announcement. The change in the state-wide total therefore reflects not only the creation of new facilities, but also the simultaneous merger and relocation of existing stations.
The next phase will be the special revision of the electoral roll. The exercise is scheduled to begin on October 15, 2026, and continue until January 4, 2027. The polling station changes will form part of the administrative groundwork for that process.
For voters, the immediate practical issue will be checking whether their polling station, electoral section or assigned location has changed. The supplied announcement does not provide constituency-wise or district-wise details of the additions, mergers and relocations. Those details will be required to identify the specific impact on individual voters.
The final polling station list has been approved by the Election Commission, while the electoral roll revision is scheduled to run through January 4, 2027, according to the Chief Electoral Officer’s statement.
