The Election Commission of India (ECI) has written to Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) of several States and Union Territories, informing them that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is likely to begin in April 2026.
In its letter, the poll body directed that all preparations related to the SIR be completed at the earliest to ensure a smooth and timely process.
The SIR is expected to commence from April 2026 in the following states and union territories. These include Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Ladakh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, National Capital Territory of Delhi, Odisha, Punjab, Sikkim, Tripura, Telangana, and Uttarakhand.
The poll body emphasised that necessary arrangements should be put in place in advance to facilitate the mega exercise.
The Election Commission in October last year announced to carry out phase two of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in 12 states and union territories. Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal went under SIR last year.
The Special Intensive Revision is a key exercise undertaken periodically to update electoral rolls and ensure the accuracy of voter lists.
According to the poll body, the last SIR was conducted 21 years ago in between 2001-2004. As per CEC Gyanesh Kumar, frequent migration, double voter id cards, non-removal of dead voters, and wrongful inclusion of foreigners have taken place in all these years.
“Hence, ECI decided to conduct step-wise SIR across the country," the CEC had said. He said that since 1951, SIR has been conducted in the country eight times.
According to the poll body, the process would begin with the pre-enumeration phase.
The states and UTs that will undergo the SIR will have their voter list frozen. The EROs (officials appointed by the Commission to prepare and revise the electoral rolls for every assembly and parliamentary constituency) will print unique enumeration forms for every registered voter in these states and UTs.
The enumeration forms will mostly be pre-filled, including name, booth, constituency, and old photo.
Meanwhile, Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will visit every house three times to conduct the exercise. They will collect Form 6 and declaration forms from new voters seeking inclusion, help electors fill out enumeration forms, and submit them to EROs. They will also perform duties like distributing the EFs to each existing elector and helping the elector in matching/ linking with either their name or their relative’s name in the last SIR held in 2002-2004.
The Commission will also deploy volunteers so that “genuine electors, particularly old, sick, PwD, poor and other vulnerable groups, are not harassed and are facilitated to the extent possible."
The EROs/ AEROs will then include the names of all electors whose enumeration forms are received in the draft rolls. They will also issue a notice to all those whose names could not be matched/ linked with the last SIR.
The EROs/ AEROs will hear the cases for eligibility and decide on inclusion or exclusion of electors’ names in the final rolls.
