Electoral Rolls & Special Intensive Revision (SIR)

Electoral Rolls & Special Intensive Revision (SIR)

Context

In preparation for the 2026 Assembly elections, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has launched a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) across 12 States and Union Territories. Unlike routine summary revisions, this is a comprehensive "Augean cleaning" aimed at purifying voter lists by removing duplicates, deceased individuals, and ineligible entries.

About the News

• The Scale: The exercise covers major states including West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, and Rajasthan.
• Phase 2 Implementation: Following a pilot in Bihar (Phase 1), the second phase involves door-to-door enumeration where Booth Level Officers (BLOs) distribute Unique Enumeration Forms (EF) to every household.
• Timeline: Final electoral rolls are scheduled for publication on February 7, 2026, following a claims and objections window that ended in mid-January.

The Controversy: Accuracy vs. Exclusion

While the ECI maintains the SIR is essential for "healthier" democracy, it has faced significant legal and political challenges:

• Mass Deletions: In states like Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, draft rolls showed a sharp dip in the Gender Ratio. For instance, in UP, the number of women voters reportedly decreased by over 1.5 crore, sparking concerns that traditional naming conventions or lack of documents disproportionately affected women.
• Process Flaws: * The "2003 Mapping" Glitch: The ECI used 2003 voter lists as a baseline for "mapping" current voters. Errors in these two-decade-old records led to many genuine voters being marked for deletion.
  • Aggressive Deduplication: In parts of Tamil Nadu, the number of deleted names plus actual votes cast in 2024 exceeded the original total roll, suggesting that active, genuine voters were purged.
• Panic and Displacement: In border areas of West Bengal, the house-to-house verification was widely perceived as a "covert NRC" (National Register of Citizens), leading to reports of undocumented residents fleeing due to fear of detention.

Legal and Constitutional Framework

• Article 324: Grants the ECI the "superintendence, direction, and control" of elections, including roll preparation.
• Section 21, Representation of the People Act, 1950:
  • Statutory Power: Empowers the ECI to direct a "Special Revision" at any time for reasons recorded in writing.
  • Mandate: Requires rolls to be updated before every general or bye-election to ensure they reflect the current "qualifying date" (usually Jan 1st).
• Judicial Precedent (Lal Babu Hussein v. ERO, 1995): The Supreme Court held that once a name is on the roll, it is prima facie evidence of citizenship. Deletion without a solid legal basis and proper hearing is arbitrary.

Challenges in the 2026 Revision

Way Forward

• Targeted Re-verification: The ECI should conduct special "Women-only" registration drives in constituencies where the gender ratio has plummeted.
• Transparent Reasons: Following SC directions in the Bihar case, the ECI must publish the specific reasons for every deletion to allow for easy appeals.
• Aadhaar Integration: While not a proof of citizenship, the optional linking of Aadhaar (under Form 6B) should be used to prevent "ghost voters" without disenfranchising those without the card.
• Continuous Revision: Transitioning from "Intensive Revisions" every 20 years to a robust, continuous digital update system would prevent the "stress and strain" caused by massive one-time cleanups.

Conclusion

The 2026 SIR is a high-stakes balancing act between ensuring a "clean" list and protecting the Universal Adult Franchise. While the intent to remove "fake" voters is valid, the procedural "dragnet" must not catch genuine citizens, as the right to vote is the fundamental bedrock of Indian democracy.