EC directs states to prepare for nationwide SIR by Sept 30

New Delhi: The Election Commission (EC) has directed state election officers to be ready for a nationwide Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls by 30 September, signaling that the voter list cleanup exercise could begin as early as October or November.

At a recent conference of state chief electoral officers (CEOs), the EC leadership instructed them to prepare for the SIR rollout within 10 to 15 days, with 30 September set as the formal deadline.

The CEOs have been asked to keep ready the voter lists published after their last SIR. Several states have already uploaded these rolls on their official websites. In Delhi, the voter list from 2008, when the last intensive revision was carried out, is available online. Uttarakhand has uploaded the 2006 list, while in Bihar the 2003 roll is being used as the benchmark.

Most states last conducted the SIR between 2002 and 2004 and have almost completed mapping current electors against those rolls. The nationwide exercise will follow the Bihar model, where the EC has already undertaken the process.

The primary objective of the SIR is to identify and remove illegal foreign migrants by verifying voters’ place of birth. The move comes amid heightened action in several states against undocumented migrants, particularly from Bangladesh and Myanmar.

In Telangana, the CEO has released the 2002 electoral list for Hyderabad and other districts, allowing voters to check their names. The 2002 roll is likely to serve as the cut-off for the nationwide SIR. Officials indicated that those whose names appear on the list may not need to submit additional documents with the enumeration form, though a formal notification is awaited.

Assembly elections in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal are scheduled for 2026, making the revision significant ahead of the polls.