The Election Commission of India (ECI) will announce the schedule for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls on Monday. The announcement is expected at a press conference scheduled for 4 p.m. at Vigyan Bhavan in Delhi.
According to sources, this will mark the beginning of the nationwide SIR process, likely covering around 10 to 15 states in the first phase — including West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam, and Puducherry.
Earlier, during a similar revision in Bihar, nearly 6.5 million names were removed from the voters’ list, reflecting the ECI’s commitment to maintaining updated and accurate rolls ahead of upcoming elections.
From Tuesday onward, the revision process will begin in earnest. Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will start visiting households to distribute enumeration forms from November 1. Before that, the ECI will send soft copies of the forms to Electoral Registration Officers for printing. Each voter will receive two forms — one for their own record and another to be retained by the BLO.
In West Bengal, which has approximately 76.5 million registered voters, the commission plans to print double that number of forms to ensure full coverage. Each form will contain 90 percent of the voter’s pre-filled information — including name, EPIC number, address, and date of birth — allowing voters to verify or update their details.
As seen in Bihar, voters will need to provide valid documents to verify their identity and address. The Election Commission is expected to accept multiple forms of proof, such as birth certificates, passports, educational certificates, residence or tribal certificates, pension or bank documents dated before July 1, 1987, property records, and Aadhaar cards, as per Supreme Court guidelines.
Officials from the Chief Electoral Officer’s office in West Bengal have indicated that similar document requirements will apply across the state once the revision begins.
The upcoming SIR is seen as a crucial step to ensure India’s voter rolls remain accurate and transparent ahead of the next major elections.