The Election Commission of India (ECI) seems to be prepared for the nationwide Special Intensive Review (SIR) of the voter rolls, as it has asked the state election officers to be ready for the same by September 30. This means the top poll panel could begin the voter clean up process in October-November, reported PTI.
A conference of state chief electoral officers (CEOs) was recently held and officials said the ECI has asked the CEOs to be ready for SIR) rollout in the next 10 to 15 days. However, according to PTI, for clarity the top EC brass set the deadline of September 30.
What has EC told state CEOs?
According to the report, the ECI has asked the state chief electoral officers to keep the voter lists of their states ready that were published after the last SIR. Some of the state CEOs have already put up the voter lists published after their last SIR on their websites.
The Delhi CEO website now has published the voter list from 2008, when the last intensive revision of the electoral rolls took place in the national capital.
Similarly, Uttarakhand has also put out the 2006 electoral roll, when the last SIR took place here. The last SIR date is important as it serves as the cut-off date, just as happened for Bihar for which the cut-off was set to 2003, when the last SIR took place in the state.
Most states had the last SIR between 2002 and 2004 and have nearly completed mapping of current electors with those as per the last intensive revision, the PTI report added. The ECI had previously said it was preparing for a countrywide SIR, once it is done with the exercise in Bihar.
SIR before elections in multiple states
Assembly elections in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal are due in 2026. The Bihar SIR has already created uproar in political corridors due to its timing and opposition’s allegations of “vote theft”.
The ECI has said that the main aim of the intensive revision is to remove foreign illegal migrants by checking their place of birth.
The Supreme Court is already hearing the Bihar SIR case and has passed a number of orders in the past one month on the considering Aadhaar as valid identity proof, and publishing of the names of deleted voters. The apex court is likely to pass its verdict on the exercise next week, as the deadline to publish the final roll nears.
The state has to elect a new government by the end of November, and the ECI will announce the dates only after the SIR is done and the final electoral roll is published.