ECI orders special drive to enrol left-out voters in 20 States, UTs after SIR
Babushahi Bureau
New Delhi, October 2, 2026: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has directed electoral authorities in 20 states and Union Territories where the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has been completed to launch a special drive to identify and enrol eligible voters who may have been left out of the revised rolls.
The directive, issued in a letter dated September 29 and reiterated during a video conference with State Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) on Thursday, also covers young and first-time eligible voters who have not yet been enrolled.
Under the exercise, Chief Electoral Officers, District Election Officers and Electoral Registration Officers have been asked to facilitate enrolment through the process of continuous updation.
Officials will compare the electoral rolls prepared before and after the SIR to identify voters whose names appeared in the earlier rolls but are missing from the revised lists. Booth Level Officers (BLOs) have also been asked to facilitate enrolment, including through house visits where required.
Eligible voters identified as having been left out can be enrolled using Form 6, the statutory application used for inclusion of names in electoral rolls.
The ECI has clarified that the additional declaration attached to Form 6 during the SIR exercise will not apply outside the SIR phase. In states and UTs where the revision has been completed, the forms prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, will be used for enrolment.
The move comes amid scrutiny of the scale of deletions recorded during the SIR exercise. More than 13 crore names had been removed from draft electoral rolls across 30 states and Union Territories, according to data reported earlier during the revision process. The deletions included categories such as deceased voters, permanently shifted electors and other entries requiring verification.
The Commission has asked officials to pay particular attention to eligible voters who are not found to be registered elsewhere and have not been identified as duplicate or deceased. Political parties and their booth-level representatives may also assist authorities in the enrolment exercise.
In Maharashtra, where the SIR is still underway, election authorities have separately instructed Electoral Registration Officers not to exclude voters hastily and to provide sufficient opportunity to submit documents and appear for a hearing before a decision is taken. Special camps have also been scheduled in October to facilitate the process.