The Election Commission of India (ECI) is preparing to launch a nationwide Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, replicating the exercise recently carried out in Bihar, reported Times of India. The pan-India drive is expected to begin later this month or early October and will align with the annual summary revision of electoral rolls, due with reference to January 1, 2026, as the qualifying date.
A clear signal of the Commission’s intent has come with its decision to convene a meeting of chief electoral officers (CEOs) from all states and Union Territories on September 10. The meeting will finalise the modalities of the nationwide SIR, including details of the current electorate strength, data from the last revision, digitisation of rolls, and uploading on CEO websites.
The ECI will also seek inputs on rationalising polling stations to cap electors per booth at 1,200 and assess the readiness of electoral registration officers (EROs), additional EROs, and booth-level officers (BLOs).
Under the proposed plan, electors across all states and UTs, except Bihar, where the SIR has already been conducted, will be required to fill and submit signed enumeration forms. Some will be able to do so without supporting documents, depending on criteria to be spelt out in the Commission’s order.
In its June 24, 2025 directive, the ECI had declared its intent to conduct a nationwide SIR “for the discharge of its constitutional mandate to protect the integrity of electoral rolls.” The Commission began with Bihar due to the approaching state elections, while making it clear that a national schedule would follow separately.
Initially, it was speculated that Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Puducherry, states and a UT going to polls in April 2026, would be the next to undergo SIR. However, the Commission now appears inclined to consolidate the annual summary revision and SIR into a single nationwide exercise rather than run them in parallel.
The national SIR will be spread over a month. After enumeration, draft rolls will be published, followed by a one-month window for claims and objections. These will be addressed over 25 days, with final rolls for all states and UTs expected in early January 2026. Last year’s annual summary revision, with January 1, 2025 as the qualifying date, had started on October 29, 2024. This year, the process is likely to begin earlier to accommodate the more extensive enumeration stage.
As in Bihar, voters whose names appear in the final rolls published after the last intensive revision in 2003–04 will be presumed citizens and will only need to submit signed enumeration forms. Others will have to attach proof of age and citizenship, as mandated by Article 326 of the Constitution.
The ECI has underscored that the aim of SIR is to “purify” the rolls by eliminating names of deceased voters, those permanently shifted, duplicates, or non-citizens, while ensuring no eligible citizen is left out.
With inputs from TOI
A clear signal of the Commission’s intent has come with its decision to convene a meeting of chief electoral officers (CEOs) from all states and Union Territories on September 10. The meeting will finalise the modalities of the nationwide SIR, including details of the current electorate strength, data from the last revision, digitisation of rolls, and uploading on CEO websites.
The ECI will also seek inputs on rationalising polling stations to cap electors per booth at 1,200 and assess the readiness of electoral registration officers (EROs), additional EROs, and booth-level officers (BLOs).
Under the proposed plan, electors across all states and UTs, except Bihar, where the SIR has already been conducted, will be required to fill and submit signed enumeration forms. Some will be able to do so without supporting documents, depending on criteria to be spelt out in the Commission’s order.
In its June 24, 2025 directive, the ECI had declared its intent to conduct a nationwide SIR “for the discharge of its constitutional mandate to protect the integrity of electoral rolls.” The Commission began with Bihar due to the approaching state elections, while making it clear that a national schedule would follow separately.
Initially, it was speculated that Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Puducherry, states and a UT going to polls in April 2026, would be the next to undergo SIR. However, the Commission now appears inclined to consolidate the annual summary revision and SIR into a single nationwide exercise rather than run them in parallel.
The national SIR will be spread over a month. After enumeration, draft rolls will be published, followed by a one-month window for claims and objections. These will be addressed over 25 days, with final rolls for all states and UTs expected in early January 2026. Last year’s annual summary revision, with January 1, 2025 as the qualifying date, had started on October 29, 2024. This year, the process is likely to begin earlier to accommodate the more extensive enumeration stage.
As in Bihar, voters whose names appear in the final rolls published after the last intensive revision in 2003–04 will be presumed citizens and will only need to submit signed enumeration forms. Others will have to attach proof of age and citizenship, as mandated by Article 326 of the Constitution.
The ECI has underscored that the aim of SIR is to “purify” the rolls by eliminating names of deceased voters, those permanently shifted, duplicates, or non-citizens, while ensuring no eligible citizen is left out.
With inputs from TOI
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