EC to take final call on pan-India electoral roll revision: CEC
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New Delhi: Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Monday said the Election Commission (EC) is actively working on the launch of a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls across all states, and a final decision on its pan-India rollout will be taken by the commission.
Speaking at a press conference announcing the Bihar assembly polls, CEC Kumar noted that the EC had already outlined its plan for a nationwide SIR while rolling out Bihar’s SIR on June 24. He added that the three commissioners will meet soon to decide the dates for launching SIRs in various states.
State poll officers had been asked to prepare for the voter list cleanup exercise by September 30. Officials said the EC top brass had earlier instructed state chief electoral officers (CEOs) at a conference to be ready for SIR rollout within 10 to 15 days, with the September 30 deadline set to ensure clarity and readiness.
CEOs were advised to have the electoral rolls published after the last SIR ready. Many states have already made their latest SIR voter lists available on official CEO websites. For instance, the Delhi CEO website has the 2008 voter list from the last intensive revision, while Uttarakhand’s last SIR dates back to 2006. These previous SIRs serve as the cut-off date for the upcoming revision, similar to Bihar, which is using the 2003 voter list as its reference. Most states conducted their last SIRs between 2002 and 2004, and nearly all have completed mapping current electors against the last SIR records.
The next SIR assumes added significance due to ongoing efforts in various states to identify and remove foreign illegal migrants, including those from Bangladesh and Myanmar. The primary aim of the SIR is to verify the place of birth of voters and remove ineligible entries.
Assembly elections in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal are scheduled in 2026, making the timely and accurate revision of electoral rolls critical.
With PTI inputs