The Election Commission of India (ECI) will hold a press conference today (Monday) at 4:15 PM to announce the schedule for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls across the country. Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, along with Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, will address the media.
According to reports, the nationwide SIR is expected to begin next week, starting with 10 to 15 states — mainly those where assembly elections are due in 2026, including Assam, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala, and West Bengal.
No SIR in States With Local Elections
An ECI official said that states conducting local body elections will not take part in SIR for now, as ground-level staff will be busy managing those polls. SIR will be launched in those states only after local elections conclude.
States Going to Polls Next Year
State Last SIR Year Old Voter Count Current Voter Count
Assam 2004 1.7 crore 2.6 crore
Tamil Nadu 2003 4.6 crore 6.3 crore
West Bengal 2002 5.8 crore 7.4 crore
Kerala 2003 2.3 crore 2.8 crore
Puducherry 2003 7 lakh 19 lakh
Chief Electoral Officers’ Meeting
Recently, the ECI held two rounds of meetings with Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) from all states to finalize the SIR framework. Several states have already uploaded their previous SIR voter lists to their official websites.
For example, Delhi’s 2008 SIR list is still available online, while Uttarakhand’s last SIR in 2006 and Bihar’s recent voter verification data have also been published. Bihar’s final data was released on October 1.
Purpose of the SIR
The SIR will act as a cut-off reference for voter rolls — similar to the 2003 Bihar SIR list that the Election Commission used as a base record.
Most states last conducted SIR between 2002 and 2004, while Delhi did it in 2008 and Uttarakhand in 2006. The main goals of the exercise are:
To verify citizenship and place of birth to identify illegal immigrants, especially from Bangladesh and Myanmar.
To remove duplicate and outdated voter entries.
To ensure every eligible Indian citizen above 18 is registered.
Updating the Voter Roll After Two Decades
This will be India’s first major electoral roll review in nearly 20 years. Rapid urbanization and migration have made such an update essential.
For instance:
Andhra Pradesh had 55 million voters in 2003–04; now it has 66 million.
Uttar Pradesh had 115 million in 2003; now it has 159 million.
Delhi had 11 million voters in 2008; now it has 15 million.
Process and Timeline
During the revision, Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will visit every household, verify details, and collect voter forms. Anyone who turns 18 by December 31 will be included in this process.
Currently, India has 991 million registered voters. Of these, about 80 million voters in Bihar have already completed the verification process. During the last SIR (2002–2004), around 700 million voters were listed, meaning roughly 210 million voters may still need to provide documents this time.
Bihar’s SIR Controversy
The SIR in Bihar had earlier sparked controversy before the state elections. The opposition accused the government of voter fraud, and the case went to the Supreme Court, which later upheld the Election Commission’s process. The Commission has already submitted Bihar’s final voter list to the court.
Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi also held a press conference accusing the government of manipulating voter rolls.
The upcoming nationwide SIR is being seen as a significant step toward ensuring clean, transparent, and updated voter lists across India ahead of the 2026 state elections and the next general election.
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