The Election Commission of India has announced a nationwide Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in 12 states and Union Territories on Monday.
Addressing a press conference, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar said that after the completion of Phase 1 of SIR in Bihar, this will be the second phase.
Kumar said all poll-bound states and union territories in 2026 will be part of the SIR, which include Kerala Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. The draft roll would be published on December 9, and the final electoral roll will be released on February 7, 2026.
The other states and UTs are Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Lakshadweep, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh.
Despite the Assembly elections in 2026, the exercise will not be held in Assam owing to the NRC process.
Kumar said that Aadhaar cards can be used for identification only.
Training of polling officials for Phase-II of SIR will begin on Tuesday, the CEC said, adding that each officer will visit every house thrice to avoid any bogus voters. “The SIR will ensure no eligible elector is left out and no ineligible elector is included in poll rolls,” he said.
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Enumeration forms will be pre-filled with already available details including, details of previous SIR, he added.
VIDEO | Delhi: Addressing a press conference, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar says, “All Chief Electoral Officers and District Electoral Officers have been directed to meet political parties and brief them on the SIR process by day after tomorrow.”#ElectionCommission… pic.twitter.com/6PY43k73dM
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) October 27, 2025
Each Assembly constituency will have several polling stations and one Electoral Registration Officer (ERO). And each polling station has around 1000 electors and will have one Booth Level Officer (BLO).
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Kumar also said that zero appeals were made during Bihar SIR. “7.5 crore people participated in the SIR in Bihar… all stakeholders worked to refine the voter list and zero appeals have been made against Phase 1.”
The CEC noted that many changes have in electoral rolls have occurred due to frequent migration, voters registering in more than one place, non-removal of dead voters and wrongful inclusion of foreigners.
SIR has been conducted eight times since Independence. The last one was held from2002to2004.
