New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday launched a two-day national conference with Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) from all states and Union Territories to finalise plans for a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls across the country. The large-scale exercise aims to clean up voter lists by identifying and removing ineligible and illegal entries, including suspected foreign nationals.
The discussions, chaired by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar along with Election Commissioners S.S. Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, will continue till Thursday. This is the second such meeting since September, highlighting the ECI’s focus on ensuring accuracy and integrity in the voter registration system ahead of future elections.
According to officials, one of the major proposals under consideration is to conduct the SIR in phases, beginning with states scheduled to hold assembly elections in 2026—namely Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal. A few additional states may also be brought into the first phase. However, in states where local body elections are due, the SIR may be postponed to avoid placing excessive pressure on the election machinery.
The Commission has already completed the SIR process in Bihar, where the final electoral roll, comprising 7.42 crore names, was published on September 30. While announcing Bihar’s election schedule, CEC Gyanesh Kumar had indicated that the ECI was preparing for a nationwide voter list overhaul, with rollout dates to be finalized soon.
In line with that directive, state CEOs were instructed to begin preparatory work within 10–15 days and complete preliminary updates by the end of September. Several states have since uploaded their latest SIR-based rolls on official websites. For example, Delhi last conducted an SIR in 2008, while Uttarakhand’s dates back to 2006. Most other states last carried out such revisions between 2002 and 2004, officials noted.
The mapping of current voters against these older records is nearing completion in many areas, as the Commission moves to ensure accuracy and eliminate duplication.
A key focus of the upcoming revision drive will be to identify and delete ineligible voters, particularly illegal migrants, by verifying place of birth and citizenship details. This initiative has taken on added urgency amid ongoing crackdowns on undocumented migrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar in several border states.
The ECI’s nationwide SIR marks one of its most ambitious efforts in recent years to enhance the transparency and credibility of India’s electoral rolls forming the foundation for free, fair, and error-free elections in the world’s largest democracy.
