SIR 2026: Telangana may deploy Bengal-tested DSE software for duplicate voter check

The Election Commission of India plans to deploy the Demographically Similar Entries (DSE) software in Telangana’s Special Intensive Revision to identify duplicate voter enrolments. The software flags electors with multiple enrolments across states. Offenders risk imprisonment and fines.

Hyderabad: The software that was used to weed out duplicate voters in West Bengal is likely to be used during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls to identify electors with more than one enrolment in Telangana.

Chief Electoral Officer of Telangana, C Sudarshan Reddy, during a recent press interaction gave a hint that the Demographically Similar Entries (DSE) software could be deployed to check whether a voter had more than one vote, as the Election Commission of India (ECI) did in West Bengal.

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This would check the possibilities of electors having enrolment two or three votes, either in two different areas in the city or in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Sudarshan Reddy cautioned that such electors could face one year imprisonment and a penalty.

The ECI deleted 6.44 crore votes in West Bengal, according to data released by the ECI, when the final voters’ list was prepared after SIR 2025 & 26, through the DSE software.

The CEO said that before removing double/triple votes by the ERO or BLO, the elector concerned would be asked about his preference on retaining the place.

Citing an example, he said that an actor was recently found to be having votes in different States, and a notice was accordingly served. Referring to the recent Jubilee Hills by-election, he said that one person had two votes in Delhi and in Telangana, and it was brought to the Election Commission of India’s notice and deleted in one State.

Demographically Similar Entries (DSE): 

For the first time, ECI used the DSE software in 12 States to identify duplicate names in case a voter had two votes in different areas in the same State or different States as part of the Special Intensive Revisions.

DSE are thrown by software on the basis of electors’ demographic details such as name, relation type, relation name and gender, date of both and age. This software is accessible for the Chief Electoral Officer, Electoral Registration Officer, and Booth Level Officer and it will further refine the electoral roll.

The software generates multiple reports for data analysis and decision-making on duplicate voters. The reports will support the identification and examination of duplicate voters and assist the decision-making process based on the analysed data.