The Election Commission (EC) is set to conduct a pan-India Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, moving away from routine revisions to focus on a nationwide clean-up of voter lists. The announcement of the first phase of this exercise is expected today, October 27, 2025, and will cover 10 to 15 states and Union Territories.
This large-scale initiative aims to create cleaner, more accurate, and error-free electoral rolls by removing duplicate entries, deceased voters, and illegal immigrants. The last intensive revision of electoral rolls in India took place two decades ago.
The first phase of the SIR will prioritize states preparing for Assembly elections in 2026, including West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam, and Puducherry. States with ongoing or imminent local body elections, such as Maharashtra, and snow-bound states/UTs like Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, and Ladakh, will be addressed in later phases.
The EC has been preparing for this countrywide SIR for the past two months, holding conferences with Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) in September and October. During these meetings, the EC assessed the preparedness of state and UT CEO offices, focusing on mapping current electors with the rolls from the last intensive revision. Approximately 50%-70% of electors have already been linked to the previous roll. Booth level officers have received training, and political parties have been urged to appoint booth level agents.
In West Bengal, the EC may appoint volunteers, potentially selected from government employees in each block, to assist booth-level officers during the revision process. This could lead to an increase of approximately 14,000 polling booths in the state, from 80,000 to around 94,000.
The Trinamool Congress in West Bengal has voiced opposition to the SIR exercise. Some political observers suggest that the removal of voters from certain demographics could unfairly advantage particular parties, but these claims remain unsubstantiated.
The SIR follows a similar exercise conducted in Bihar, where the electoral roll was recently updated. In Bihar, the final list contains 7.42 crore electors, a decrease from the 7.89 crore electors recorded on June 24. Approximately 65 lakh voters were removed from the draft list, with 3.66 lakh ineligible electors removed from the final list and 21.53 lakh eligible electors added.
The Election Commission aims to address queries and concerns related to the nationwide SIR, ensuring a transparent and credible process. The focus on poll-bound states in the initial phase is intended to ensure accurate electoral rolls ahead of key elections. By implementing the SIR in stages, the EC seeks to manage the complexities of a nationwide voter verification effort and deliver a more reliable electoral roll.
