The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday, October 27, began the second phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls across 12 States and Union Territories, including poll-bound Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala, and Puducherry. This round will cover nearly 51 crore voters.

The revision exercise will not be carried out in Assam for now. A separate notification will be issued later as the State has its own citizenship process under the law.

“Under the Citizenship Act, there are separate provisions for citizenship in Assam. Under the supervision of the Supreme Court, the exercise of checking citizenship is about to be completed. The June 24 SIR order was for the entire country. Under such circumstances, this would not have applied to Assam,” Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said at a press conference.

The exercise is expected to draw attention in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, where the ruling parties, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the DMK, have objected to the move.

Apart from the four poll-bound States, the SIR will also take place in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, and the Union Territories of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep.

First phase held in Bihar

The first phase of the voter list revision was held in Bihar, where more than 68 lakh names were removed from the electoral rolls. With the second phase now underway, voter lists in the 12 States and UTs will be frozen from Monday midnight.

SIR schedule and process

Most States last conducted a special voter list revision between 2002 and 2004. Since then, officials have almost finished mapping current voters and correcting errors in their addresses.

The upcoming SIR will follow this timeline:

  • House-to-house verification: November 4 to December 4

  • Draft rolls publication: December 9

  • Claims and objections period: December 9 to January 8

  • Hearings and verifications: December 9 to January 31

  • Final roll publication: February 7

Booth-level officers will be trained, and forms printed between October 28 and November 3, the Commission said.

When asked about Kerala, where local body elections are due, Mr. Kumar said the poll notification is yet to be issued.

On West Bengal’s objections, he stated, “The Commission was doing its constitutional duty by carrying out the SIR, and the State government will perform its duties by giving all support and manpower needed.”

Responding to a question on whether all voters would receive new voter ID cards as in Bihar, the CEC clarified, “Fresh voter IDs will be given to only those who have any change in their particulars.”