EC plans pan-India voter list revision, starting with 2026 poll states

Starting with a group of states, the Election Commission (EC) is likely to roll out pan-India special intensive revision (SIR) of the voters’ list in phases, officials said. The states where the exercise is likely to kick off include those where Assembly elections are due in 2026, they added. Assembly elections are due in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal next year.

It will not conduct the electoral roll cleanup exercise in states where local body elections are taking place or would take place, as the grassroots poll machinery is busy with it and may not be able to focus on SIR, the officials added.

Besides the five states that would go to the polls in 2026, the SIR exercise could be held in a few other states in the first phase.

Also read: EC may kick off Bengal SIR from November first week

Voter list cleanup concludes in Bihar

The voters' list cleanup exercise has concluded in Bihar, which will go to polls in November, where the final list with nearly 7.42 crore names was published on September 30.

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Monday (October 6) said work is in progress to launch the SIR of electoral rolls in all states, and a final decision on its rollout will be taken by the EC.

Responding to a question at a press conference to announce the Bihar Assembly polls, Kumar had said the EC had announced its plan for a pan-India SIR while rolling out the Bihar SIR on June 24.

The work is on, and the three commissioners will meet to decide on dates for various states to launch their respective SIRs, he said.

Also read: From Champaran to SIR to vote chori, Bihar’s electoral soul at stake

State electoral officers told to be prepared

According to officials, the EC top brass had asked the state chief electoral officers (CEOs) at a conference in New Delhi earlier this month to be ready for SIR roll-out in the next 10 to 15 days. But for the sake of greater clarity, a September 30 deadline was set for them to be ready for the electoral roll cleanup exercise.

The CEOs have been told to keep ready the electoral rolls of their states published after the last SIR.

Several CEOs have already put the voter list published after their last SIR on their websites.

The website of the Delhi CEO has the 2008 voter list when the last intensive revision took place in the national capital.

Also read: Bihar SIR: SC directs EC to furnish details of 3.66 lakh excluded voters

In Uttarakhand, the last SIR took place in 2006, and that year's electoral roll is now on the state CEO website.

The last SIR in states will serve as the cut-off date, just as the 2003 voter list of Bihar was used by the EC for intensive revision.

Most states had the last SIR of the voter list between 2002 and 2004. Most of them have nearly completed mapping of current electors with the voters according to the last SIR in the state or Union Territory.

Also read: Kerala to begin voter roll revision, sparking fears of Bihar-like exclusion

The primary aim of the SIR is to weed out foreign illegal migrants by checking their place of birth.

The move assumes significance in the wake of a crackdown in various states on illegal foreign migrants, including from Bangladesh and Myanmar.

(With Agency inputs)