Taking the first step towards a nationwide Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, the Election Commission (EC) is set to hold a conference of Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) of states and Union Territories on September 10 to review preparedness, The Indian Express has learnt.
The EC is likely to start the SIR for the country with the qualifying date of January 1, 2026, it is learnt. In an order on June 24, the poll panel had decided to conduct the SIR for the country, but only rolled it out for Bihar initially, ahead of Assembly elections in the state. For the remaining states and UTs, it had said that the orders would be issued in due course.
Now, all CEOs have been asked to make presentations on September 10 regarding the number of electors in their states and UTs, the details of the last intensive revision, etc, a source said. The exact timelines would only be known when the EC issues an order for the same.
The poll panel, comprising Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, is likely to meet the CEOs at the commission’s India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM) in Dwarka.
In its June 24 order, the EC had said that an intensive revision of electoral rolls was last conducted in 2003 and that due to urbanisation and migration, there was a possibility of repeated entries in the electoral roll. “Thus, the situation warrants an intensive verification drive to verify each person before enrolment as an elector,” the order said.
The electoral rolls are summarily revised every year and before each election, with additions and deletions made to the existing rolls. This time, the EC is preparing the rolls afresh. In the case of Bihar, it issued a new enumeration form and declaration, with a list of 11 eligibility documents. All existing electors were required to submit forms and for those added after 2003, documents as well, to prove their eligibility.
The EC’s SIR order has been challenged through a batch of petitions in the Supreme Court, where the matter remains pending. Apart from challenging the poll panel’s authority to conduct a check of citizenship, the petitioners have also questioned the rationale for the EC’s list of 11 documents, which does not include the most commonly held Aadhaar, ration card, and the EC’s own Voter ID.
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With the period for enumeration as well as claims and objections over in Bihar, Electoral Registration Officers are now disposing of the claims and objections. The final electoral roll of Bihar is due to be published on September 30.
