New Delhi: Amid growing concerns and political pushback over the removal of names during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced a nationwide corrective drive. The special campaign will run across 20 states and Union Territories where the SIR exercise was recently concluded, targeting eligible citizens, omitted voters, and first-time registrants under continuous roll updates.
Key Directives Issued to Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs)
-
Simplified Application via Standard Form 6: Registrations during this continuous update will strictly use the standard, statutory Form 6. A restrictive question added in July—which required applicants to indicate whether they or their parents were listed on an electoral roll published after the previous SIR—has been scoped back to the revision phase only. This removes documentation friction for general and newly eligible applicants.
-
Pre- and Post-Revision Roll Scrutiny: Chief Electoral Officers, District Election Officers (DEOs), and Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) have been instructed to cross-verify the pre-SIR and post-SIR voter lists. Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will conduct targeted outreach to contact omitted individuals directly and assist them in completing Form 6.
-
Minimising Physical Appearances: To prevent administrative hardship, citizens served with notices regarding verification will not be routinely required to make in-person appearances at government offices. BLOs are directed to collect supporting documents directly from voters’ homes and upload them to the portal.
-
Coordination with Booth Level Agents (BLAs): Election authorities have been urged to coordinate actively with recognised political parties and their designated BLAs to identify any legitimate voter inadvertently left off the rolls.
The Commission has cautioned Electoral Registration Officers against any arbitrary or hasty deletion decisions, reiterating that no genuine voter should be deprived of their constitutional right to franchise.
