Second phase of Special Intensive Revision to begin start in 12 states, UTs from Oct 28
PTC News Desk: Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar on Monday announced that the second phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls will begin on Tuesday across 12 states and Union Territories, including Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Goa, Puducherry, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Lakshadweep.
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Kumar said, “We are launching the second phase of the Special Intensive Revision. I extend my gratitude to the voters of Bihar and salute the 7.5 crore electors who ensured a successful completion of the first phase. The Commission also held extensive consultations with election officials from all 36 states to review and refine the process.”
The CEC noted that the first phase, held in Bihar, covered over 90,000 polling booths and concluded smoothly without any appeals. “The voter participation in Bihar has been outstanding and sets a high standard for other states to follow,” he said. Kumar further announced that the voter lists in all 12 participating states and UTs will be frozen at midnight tonight. He said the primary goal of the SIR was to ensure no eligible citizen is excluded and no ineligible entry remains on the rolls.
The CEC said every voter would receive a Unique Enumeration Form distributed by Booth Level Officers (BLOs). These forms would include relevant details from the existing electoral rolls. Voters would be able to verify their information against older records. “If a voter’s name or that of their parents appears in the 2003 rolls, no additional documents will be required,” he clarified.
To enhance transparency, voter lists from the 2002–2004 SIR period will be made available online at voters.eci.gov.in, enabling individuals to check their registration status directly.
The CEC announced that training for polling officials involved in Phase II will start on Tuesday. “BLOs will visit each household up to three times for verification. Voters who have migrated can now submit their forms online,” he said.
He also instructed Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) and District Electoral Officers (DEOs) in all participating states to conduct meetings with political parties within the next two days to brief them about the SIR process and ensure complete transparency.
Why SIR is necessary
The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is conducted to maintain the accuracy and integrity of electoral rolls by detecting and correcting errors or duplicate entries. Since 1951, eight such revisions have been carried out, the most recent between 2002 and 2004. The primary reasons for undertaking this exercise include voter migration, duplicate registrations, and the removal of names of deceased voters.
Bihar, which recently concluded its voter list update, has already published the final roll containing nearly 7.42 crore voters as of September 30. The state will hold elections in two phases on November 6 and 11, with counting set for November 14.
The EC has conducted two rounds of meetings with state Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) to finalise the rollout strategy for the SIR.
As per earlier reports, in states where local body elections are currently being held or are imminent, the voter roll revision process will be postponed to later phases, since poll officials are occupied with election duties. Meanwhile, several states have already made their updated electoral rolls available online from previous revision drives.
- With inputs from agencies
