The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday announced the commencement of the second phase of its Special Intensive Revision (SIR) — a nationwide voter list clean-up exercise aimed at ensuring accurate and updated electoral rolls. Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar made the announcement during a press conference in New Delhi, confirming that this phase will cover 12 states and Union Territories — Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Goa, Puducherry, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Lakshadweep.
CEC Gyanesh Kumar confirmed that the electoral rolls will be frozen immediately to begin the process, stating, “In the states where SIR will be conducted, electoral rolls will be frozen at midnight today. Later, voters will be given unique enumeration forms with all details.”
Pan-India SIR: Key Dates and Schedule
As per the Commission’s schedule, printing and training activities will take place between 28th October and 3rd November 2025. The House-to-House Enumeration Phase will run from 4th November to 4th December 2025, followed by the publication of draft electoral rolls on 9th December 2025.
The claims and objections period will be open from 9th December 2025 to 8th January 2026, alongside the hearing and verification phase, which will continue till 31st January 2026. The final electoral rolls are set to be published on 7th February 2026, according to the ECI.
Here is the schedule:
Addressing the media, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said, “Today we are here regarding the rollout of the second phase of the Special Intensive Revision. I extend my greetings to the voters of Bihar and bow before the 7.5 crore voters who took part in a successful SIR. The Commission also met election officials from all 36 states and discussed the process in detail.”
Kumar highlighted that the ongoing SIR marks the ninth such exercise since Independence, with the last one conducted over two decades ago between 2002 and 2004. “Political parties have raised the issue of quality of electoral rolls on several occasions,” he added.
What Pan-India SIR Involves
The ECI explained that under Article 326 of the Constitution, every citizen of India aged 18 or above and ordinarily residing in a constituency is eligible to be enrolled as a voter. The Special Intensive Revision aims to address issues such as duplicate registrations, migration, and non-removal of deceased voters.
Each polling station, with around 1,000 electors, will have a Booth Level Officer (BLO) overseeing the enumeration process. Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) — typically at the Sub-Divisional Magistrate level — will prepare draft rolls, decide on claims and objections, and publish the final lists.
During the process, Enumeration Forms (EFs) will be printed as of 27th October 2025, containing voter details from the current rolls. BLOs will distribute these forms, assist electors in verifying or linking their names with records from the last SIR, and collect completed forms. Each BLO will visit every household at least three times, while urban and migrant voters will have the option to complete forms online.
Pan-India SIR: Hearings, Appeals and Oversight
The Commission stated that District Magistrates will hear first appeals against decisions made by EROs, while Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) of respective states or Union Territories will handle second appeals.
Political parties will also be engaged in the process — CEOs, DEOs, and EROs will brief recognised parties on the SIR procedures and train Booth Level Agents (BLAs). BLAs can help collect and certify up to 50 enumeration forms per day.
The ECI said special care would be taken to ensure that no eligible voter is left out, particularly among the elderly, persons with disabilities, and economically vulnerable groups. The Commission also plans to rationalise polling stations, ensuring that none exceeds 1,200 electors, and to establish new ones in high-rise colonies and slum clusters.
Election Commission’s SIR Exercise
The EC has already concluded the revision process in Bihar, where the final list containing “nearly 7.42 crore names” was published on September 30, ahead of the November polling.
The EC has structured the SIR rollout to ensure minimal disruption to other election duties. According to news agency PTI, officials stated that the electoral roll cleanup will “not hold the electoral roll cleanup exercise in states where local body elections are taking place or are due, as the grassroots poll machinery is busy with it and may not be able to focus on SIR.” The revision in such states, where local poll machinery is otherwise occupied, will be addressed in later phases.
The Commission has held two preparatory conferences with state Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) to finalise the roadmap for the SIR rollout. For states beginning the revision, the electoral roll from their respective last intensive revision—which for most fell between “2002 and 2004″—will serve as the cut-off date, similar to how the 2003 voter list was used in Bihar. The last SIR in Uttarakhand, for instance, took place in 2006, and in Delhi, the last intensive revision was held in 2008.
The primary objective of the Special Intensive Revision is to thoroughly clean up the lists by focusing on the removal of foreign illegal migrants. This will be achieved by diligently “checking their place of birth.”
The move, officials noted, “assumes significance in the wake of a crackdown in various states on illegal migrants, including from Bangladesh and Myanmar.” Most state and Union Territory CEOs have already progressed in “the mapping of current electors with the voters according to the last SIR held in their respective states or Union territories.” The announcement on Monday is expected to provide definitive timelines and further procedural details for the commencement of this major electoral exercise.
