EC announces second phase of SIR of electoral rolls in 12 states, UTs: Key takeaways

New Delhi: The Election Commission will conduct phase two of the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in 12 states and Union Territories, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar announced on Monday.

The states and Union Territories are: the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

Among these, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala, and West Bengal will go to the polls in 2026. Kumar clarified that in Assam, where polls are also due in 2026, the revision of electoral rolls will be announced separately.

The CEC said the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) is the ninth such exercise since Independence, with the last one happening in 2002-04.

He highlighted that the first phase of the SIR was completed in Bihar with zero appeals. "The second phase will be conducted in 12 states and Union Territories. SIR will ensure no eligible elector is left out and no ineligible elector is included in poll rolls," Kumar said at a press conference.

"Phase two of SIR will cover 51 crore voters. While the enumeration process will begin on November 4, the draft rolls will be published on December 9 and final electoral rolls on February 7," he added.

The voters' list cleanup exercise has been concluded in Bihar, with the final list of nearly 7.42 crore electors published on September 30. Polling in the state will be held in two phases -- on November 6 and November 11 -- and the counting of votes will take place on November 14.

The Election 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 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 available on the state CEO website.

The last SIR in states will serve as the cut-off date, just as the 2003 voter list of Bihar was used by the EC for intensive revision.

Most states had the last SIR of the voter list between 2002 and 2004, and they have nearly completed the mapping of current electors according to the last SIR held in their respective states.

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 those from Bangladesh and Myanmar.