EC likely to begin first phase of nationwide voter list cleanup next week

The Election Commission is likely to roll out the first phase of the nationwide Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists next week, starting with 10–15 states, including Assam, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala. The exercise aims to weed out illegal migrants

New Delhi: The Election Commission is likely to roll out the first of pan-India Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voters’ list next week, beginning with “10 to 15 states”, including those going to polls next year, officials said Saturday.

Assam, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala, and West Bengal will go to the polls in 2026, and they are among the States where the voters’ list cleanup exercise will begin first. The poll authority is likely to announce the first phase of SIR middle of next week, in which as many as “10 to 15 states” would be included, officials said.

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The EC 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, they said. The SIR in such states will be held in later phases.

The voters’ list cleanup exercise has concluded in Bihar, where the final list with nearly 7.42 crore names was published on September 30. Bihar will go to the polls in two phases, on November 6 and November 11, and the counting will take place on November 14.

The Commission has already held two conferences with State Chief Electoral officers (CEOs) to firm up the SIR rollout roadmap. Several CEOs have already put the voter lists published after their last SIR on their websites.

The website of the Delhi CEO has the 2008 voter list when the last intensive revision took place in the national capital. In Uttarakhand, the last SIR took place in 2006, and that year’s electoral roll is now on the state CEO website. The last SIR in states will serve as the cut-off date, just as the EC used the 2003 voter list of Bihar for intensive revision.

Most States had the last SIR of the voter list between 2002 and 2004. Most have nearly completed the mapping of current electors with the voters according to the last SIR held in their respective states or Union territories.

The primary aim of the SIR is to weed out foreign illegal migrants by checking their place of birth. The move assumes significance in the wake of a crackdown in various States on illegal migrants, including from Bangladesh and Myanmar.