ECI conducts Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in phases with safeguards to protect eligible voters
ECI is running Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in phased nationwide batches with legal safeguards to prevent wrongful deletion of eligible voters.
- Electoral rolls list eligible voters for elections; revision corrects addresses, removes wrong entries, and fixes duplicates.
- BLOs visit households, record enumeration details, and verify whether the person should appear in the electoral roll.
- Draft electoral rolls are published, and voters can submit claims or objections in Forms 6, 7 and 8 before finalisation.
- After claims and objections, a voter can appeal before the District Magistrate or a designated appellate authority, and then approach the Chief Electoral Officer.
What happened: ECI’s phased Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls
The Election Commission of India (ECI) is conducting Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in several phases across India to keep electoral rolls accurate, up to date, and free of ineligible or duplicate entries, while also ensuring that eligible electors are not left out. Phase I began in Bihar ahead of the 2025 State Legislative Assembly elections. Phase II covered nine States and three Union territories between October 2025 and April 2026. Phase III covers the remaining States and Union territories, including the National Capital Territory of Delhi, following an ECI-notified schedule that can be revised based on operational needs.
Use the SIR process to understand how India updates electoral rolls while balancing two risks: exclusion of eligible voters and inclusion of ineligible or duplicate entries. The Supreme Court’s linkage of SIR to ECI’s Article 324 role provides the constitutional anchor for election administration, while the ECI’s safeguards show procedural fairness in day-to-day governance.
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