The Election Commission of India (ECI) is gearing up to announce the schedule for the first phase of a nationwide special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. This significant undertaking is slated to commence next week, covering approximately 10 to 15 states and Union Territories. Notably, states with upcoming assembly elections in early 2026, such as Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, are included in this initial phase.
The primary goal of this pan-India exercise is to identify and rectify any discrepancies in the electoral rolls, while also verifying the credentials of voters. The ECI has decided to exclude regions currently involved in local body elections or those with imminent polls, as their election machinery will be occupied with poll duties. The SIR for these excluded areas will be scheduled for later phases.
This revision process follows the successful completion of a similar exercise in Bihar, where the final electoral roll, comprising nearly 74.2 million voters, was published on September 30. Bihar is scheduled for a two-phase assembly election on November 6 and 11, with results announced on November 14.
The ECI has been actively collaborating with state Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) to finalize the rollout plan. In preparation, most states have nearly finished mapping their current electorates against records from their last SIR, which typically took place between 2002 and 2004. This prior data will serve as a baseline for the current revision, mirroring the approach used in Bihar, which utilized its 2003 rolls.
In related news, the ECI informed the Madras High Court on Saturday that the SIR for Tamil Nadu’s electoral rolls would commence alongside other election-bound states in the upcoming week. The court acknowledged the commission’s submission, addressing concerns raised by a petitioner regarding voter roll re-verification in Chennai’s T Nagar constituency.
The upcoming revision process is modeled after the Bihar exercise, which, despite receiving praise for its scale, has also faced criticism from opposition parties citing concerns about potential large-scale deletions and inaccuracies in the updated voter lists.
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