Special Intensive Revision of Electoral Rolls: New Phase Begins and the Citizenship Question Explained

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has begun a fresh phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, with enumeration starting on 30 May 2026 in Odisha, Mizoram, Sikkim and Manipur. All eligible voters whose enumeration forms reach the Electoral Registration Officer on or before 28 June 2026 will be included in the draft rolls. This is part of the third round of the SIR, being rolled out in a staggered way across 16 States and three Union Territories, which together have a combined voter base of about 36.73 crore. The stated aim of the exercise is simple: no eligible citizen should be left out of the rolls, and no ineligible person should be included.

During the enumeration phase, Booth Level Officers (BLOs) carry out house-to-house visits to distribute, collect and verify enumeration forms from existing voters, who may submit the filled forms either to the BLO or online. Those who cannot submit forms in time can later apply using Form 6, the form meant for new voters, during the claims and objections period. To make the process inclusive, BLOs are required to carry blank copies of Form 6 for anyone wishing to enrol fresh. The ECI has also allowed Booth Level Agents of recognised political parties to collect a limited number of forms each day and hand them to the BLO before the draft rolls are published. With this round, the SIR will cover almost the whole country except Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, where the schedule will be announced later after the Census and keeping in mind weather and snow-bound conditions. The exercise has already been completed in States such as Bihar, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and Goa, among others, while Assam saw a special revision instead because of issues linked to the National Register of Citizens.

The legal foundation for the exercise was tested in the Supreme Court. On 27 May 2026, in Association for Democratic Reforms versus Election Commission of India, the Court upheld the ECI's order to conduct the SIR. The challenge had arisen from the revision carried out before the November 2025 polls in Bihar. The Court framed four questions: whether the ECI had the power to conduct the SIR, whether it used that power proportionately, whether the procedure followed the law, and whether the ECI can examine the citizenship of potential voters. On each of these, the Court ruled in the ECI's favour, holding that the Commission was empowered to carry out the revision and had broadly followed the statutory scheme.

On the sensitive question of citizenship, the Court held that the ECI can look into a person's citizenship while revising the rolls, because Section 16 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, bars non-citizens from being registered as voters. A person already on the rolls enjoys a presumption of being both a voter and a citizen. However, if the material submitted during the SIR does not satisfy the Commission, it may refuse enrolment or begin deletion. The Court clarified that such a decision does not declare a person a non-citizen; its only effect is exclusion from the electoral roll, which limits the ability to vote. The Court also noted that where the ECI is not satisfied about citizenship, it must refer the matter to the Central Government under the Citizenship Act, 1955. Several issues, such as the timing of the revision and a separate matter from West Bengal involving notices over alleged discrepancies in forms, were left to be decided in other proceedings.

For aspirants, this topic sits at the heart of Indian Polity and is highly relevant for Prelims and Mains. It tests understanding of the constitutional position of the Election Commission, the Representation of the People Act, 1950 (especially Section 16), the difference between the right to vote and citizenship, and the separation of electoral enrolment from welfare benefits and from any formal declaration of citizenship under the Citizenship Act, 1955. Candidates should focus on the institutional roles of the BLO, the Electoral Registration Officer and the ECI, and on the principle that exclusion from the roll affects only voting, not a person's legal status as a citizen.