Nationwide Special Intensive Revision Phase 1 Schedule To Be Out This Month: Sources

The Election Commission of India (ECI) is preparing to carry out a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls throughout the country in phases. According to ECI sources, they will likely announce the schedule for the first phase of the nationwide SIR this month. The process is set to start in November. The cut-off date for the SIR is November 1.

The sources stated that after the two-day Conference of Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) on nationwide SIR readiness, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Dr Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Dr Vivek Joshi will finalise and announce the schedule, likely on Monday.

The conference began at the India International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Management (IIIDEM) in New Delhi today. It was attended by the CEOs from all states and Union Territories (UT). The Commission told officials to complete their preparations for the upcoming SIR and reviewed the progress made on earlier instructions to match current electors with those from the previous revision.

An ECI official said, "In Bihar, the SIR process took nearly four months from June 24 to September 30. However, the Commission is now planning to shorten this time frame." To simplify the process, the ECI has instructed all states and UTs to start pre-matching previous and current electoral rolls, so the voter verification process will not take more time.

Learning from Bihar's approach, states and UTs such as Delhi, West Bengal, Uttarakhand, and Kerala have already begun mapping electors using their previous SIR data. The presentation by the Bihar CEO during the last conference highlighted this effective mapping process, which other states have now adopted. Many have already uploaded their latest SIR electoral rolls to their official websites.

In the first phase, the SIR will take place in around 10 states, including Assam, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala, and West Bengal. The Commission held individual meetings with CEOs from these election-bound regions to evaluate their readiness.

The Conference also reviewed data from the earlier SIR preparedness meeting held on September 10, 2025, where states shared their elector counts, qualifying dates, and the status of their last completed SIR.

With the nationwide SIR rollout, the Election Commission aims to ensure cleaner and more accurate voter lists, reducing errors and duplication before upcoming elections.