Why in the news?

  • The Election Commission of India has announced the second phase of the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls across 12 States and Union Territories, beginning on October 28, 2025.

Special Intensive Revision of Electoral Rolls

  • What is it?:  SIR is a comprehensive, time-bound house-to-house enumeration of voters, aimed at a fresh revision of electoral rolls rather than only incremental updates.
  • Legal Basis:
    • Constitution of India, Article 324 empowers the Election Commission of India (ECI) with superintendence, direction and control of electoral roll preparation.
    • Representation of the People Act, 1950 (RP Act), Section 21(3), allows special revision of electoral rolls “at any time for reasons to be recorded”.
  • Rationale behind the Exercise:
    • Significant demographic changes (urbanisation, migration, internal shift of populations) since the last major intensive revision; many voters may be missing or duplicated. 
    • Ensuring only eligible citizens register as electors, and maintaining integrity of the electoral roll (avoiding non-citizens, duplicates, bogus entries) in line with the constitutional mandate of universal adult suffrage (Art. 326) and citizen-only criterion (RP Act S.16).
    • Preparation for upcoming major elections: states going to polls need accurate rolls. For example, SIR began in Bihar ahead of its 2025 Legislative Assembly elections.
  • Process of SIR:
    • BLOs (Booth Level Officers) conduct house-to-house verification.​
    • All eligible citizens are enumerated, and existing voters may be asked to submit fresh documentation, including proof of citizenship, date, and place of birth.​
    • Electors not matching previous intensive revision rolls are issued notices and must submit documents to establish eligibility.​
    • A hybrid approach uses both intensive (door-to-door) and summary (form-based updation) features in the ongoing exercise.
    • Data collection includes deletions (dead, shifted, duplicate, non-citizen) and additions (new 18-year-olds, migrating voters, omitted electors).
  • Significance:
    • Ensures integrity and accuracy of the voter register, a foundational element of free and fair elections.
    • Addresses demographic shifts, internal migration, urban-rural changes, ensuring electoral inclusion of new voters and removal of ineligible entries.
    • Strengthens the exercise of universal adult suffrage by ensuring that only eligible citizens vote and that eligible citizens are not omitted.
    • Contributes to democratic legitimacy, credibility of electoral outcomes and trust in electoral processes.
  • Challenges and Criticisms:
    • Risk of disenfranchisement: Critics argue that stringent document requirements or short timelines may exclude large numbers of eligible voters (e.g., poor, migrants, minorities).
    • Transparency & fairness: The need for clear reason for deletions; the judiciary asked ECI to focus on “inclusion, not exclusion”.
    • Operational difficulties: House-to-house enumeration is resource-intensive, and large scale across multiple states is logistically challenging.
    • Political concerns: Perceived as favouring certain parties if timing aligns with elections and concerns over bias in execution.
    • Legal compliance & timelines: Ensuring proper notice, hearing, due process in deletions- court has flagged issues.
  • Way Forward:
    • Use technology and digital platforms (e.g., online enumeration forms) to reach migrant or absent voters.
    • Ensure robust grievance redressal mechanisms and transparency of deletions/additions lists along with public awareness generation.
    • Standardise enumeration forms and processes across states. to maintain uniformity.
    • Safeguard inclusion: ensure that document requirements do not unfairly burden vulnerable electors; accept widely-held identity proofs (EPIC, Aadhaar, ration card) as directed by the Supreme Court.