Election Commission to Begin Special Intensive Revision of Electoral Rolls in Remaining 22 States and UTs
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has directed 22 states and Union Territories to begin preparatory work for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, with the exercise scheduled to commence from April 2026
States and UTs covered include Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Ladakh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Punjab, Sikkim, Telangana, Tripura, Uttarakhand, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli & Daman and Diu
The ECI had already completed SIR in another set of 12 states and UTs in an earlier phase
Under SIR, all registered electors must submit enumeration forms; certain categories of voters must provide additional documentation to verify eligibility, including citizenship
The purpose is to update rolls for rapid urbanisation, migration, newly eligible voters, unreported deaths, and removal of illegal immigrants from voter lists
The ECI last conducted a similar nationwide exercise in the early 2000s; since then it has relied on annual summary revisions and pre-election special summary revisions
Electoral Roll Revision: Constitutional and Statutory Framework
The preparation and revision of electoral rolls is governed primarily by Article 324 of the Constitution, the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.
The SIR is a power explicitly granted under Section 21, RPA 1950 — the ECI exercises it at its discretion. The current exercise, covering 22 states, is exceptional in scale and reflects the Commission's assessment that the accumulated discrepancies in rolls require a comprehensive door-to-door enumeration, not just a summary update.
Citizenship Verification and Electoral Rolls: Legal Tension
The SIR's mandate to include citizenship verification during enumeration has attracted attention given ongoing debates about the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019.
Key Details
- Voter eligibility: only Indian citizens are entitled to vote; Section 16 of RPA 1950 disqualifies non-citizens from registration
- Foreigners illegally residing in a constituency may have been registered on electoral rolls due to inadequate verification in past summary revisions — particularly in border states (Assam, West Bengal, northeast states)
- The National Register of Citizens (NRC) for Assam (finalised August 2019) was a separate exercise — not nationally applicable
- Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003: provide for a National Population Register (NPR) and NRC at national level — not yet implemented
- Difference between SIR and NRC: SIR specifically targets the electoral roll and is conducted under the ECI's authority under RPA 1950; an NRC would be a broader citizenship documentation exercise under the Ministry of Home Affairs
- An SIR can remove names from electoral rolls where citizenship cannot be established, but does not determine citizenship for any other purpose
The requirement for voters in certain categories to furnish citizenship documents during the SIR bridges electoral law and citizenship verification — without formally triggering the NRC process. This creates both policy significance (cleaning up rolls) and political sensitivity (fears of selective disenfranchisement).
Election Commission of India: Powers, Independence, and Accountability
The ECI is a constitutional body under Article 324 whose independence is protected by the provision that the Chief Election Commissioner can only be removed in the manner applicable to a Supreme Court judge (Article 324(5)).
The SIR is an exercise of the ECI's core constitutional mandate under Article 324. Its credibility depends on the Commission's independence from executive influence — a timely question given the 2023 amendment to the appointment process.
- Exercise: Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls
- Coverage (next phase): 22 states and Union Territories; starting April 2026
- States included: Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, J&K, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Ladakh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Punjab, Sikkim, Telangana, Tripura, Uttarakhand, D&NH & DD
- Earlier completed: 12 states and UTs
- Last comparable nationwide exercise: early 2000s
- RPA 1950, Section 21: ECI's authority to order special revision at any time
- Article 324(5): CEC removable only like a Supreme Court judge
- CEC Appointment Act, 2023: selection committee — PM + Leader of Opposition + Cabinet Minister
- Voting age: 18 (reduced from 21 by the 61st Constitutional Amendment, 1988)
- Section 16, RPA 1950: non-citizens disqualified from electoral registration