EC to launch first phase of all-India SIR next week

The Election Commission (EC) is likely to roll out the first pan-India Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voters' list next week, beginning with 10 to 15 states, including those going to the polls next year, officials said on Saturday (October 25). However, the exercise is not scheduled for the states where local body elections are due.

Also Read: EC to begin electoral roll revision in TN by next week amid vote fraud allegations

First phase of SIR in 15 states

Assam, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala, and West Bengal will go to polls in 2026. The poll authority is likely to announce the first phase of SIR in the middle of next week, in which as many as 10 to 15 states will be included, officials said.

The EC will not hold the electoral roll clean-up exercise in states where local body elections are taking place or are due, as the grassroots poll machinery is busy with panchayat elections and may not be able to focus on SIR, they said. The SIR in such states will be held in later phases.

The voters' list clean-up exercise has concluded in Bihar, where the final list with nearly 7.42 crore names was published on September 30.

Bihar will go to the polls in two phases, on November 6 and November 11, and the counting is scheduled for November 14.

Also Read: SC asks Election Commission to fix errors in Bihar voter list in SIR case

SIR rollout gains momentum

The EC has already held two conferences with state Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) to finalise the SIR rollout plan. Most states had their last SIR of the voter list between 2002 and 2004. 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. Several CEOs have already put the voter lists published after their last SIR on their websites.

The Delhi CEO's website has updated the 2008 voter list from when the last SIR took place. In Uttarakhand, the last SIR took place in 2006, and that year's electoral roll is now on the state CEO website.

Most have nearly completed the mapping of current electors with the voters according to the last SIR held in their respective states or Union Territories.

The primary aim of the SIR is to weed out undocumented foreign migrants by checking their place of birth. The move has assumed significance in the wake of a crackdown in various states on illegal migrants, including from Bangladesh and Myanmar.