Special Intensive Revision in Delhi: EC begins preparations for voter roll revisions

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has begun preparations for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Delhi, as part of its mandate to maintain accurate and inclusive voter lists. The exact dates for the SIR in the national capital will be announced later.

"General public is hereby informed that the Commission has decided to begin the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the entire country for the discharge of its constitutional mandate to protect the integrity of the electoral rolls," the statement by the Delhi Chief Electoral Officer’s (CEO) office said, adding that as part of the larger process.

The Delhi CEO has instructed that anyone whose name is absent from the 2002 voter list must provide identity proof when submitting the enumeration form. Voters are also being asked to verify their own names as well as those of their parents in the 2002 list. The CEO's office has uploaded the 2002 voter list online and mapped current assembly constituencies to those from 2002, enabling easier verification for the public.

All concerned officers – including district election officers, electoral registration officers, assistant electoral registration officers, and booth-level officers (BLOs) – have been trained for the process. BLOs have been appointed for every assembly constituency to conduct House-to-House (H2H) visits as part of the revision.

According to the statement, "Those whose names appear on the voter lists of 2002 and 2025 shall have to submit only Enumeration Forms along with an extract of the voter list of 2002." If a voter's name does not appear in the 2002 list but their parents' names do, the voter must provide identity proof and an extract showing their parents' presence on the 2002 list, in addition to the enumeration form.

This comes as the SIR process in Bihar recently sparked controversy. Critics, including opposition parties, charged that many legitimate voters were being removed from the rolls without adequate verification. The poll panel defended the exercise, saying its aim was to ensure eligible voters are included while those ineligible are excluded. In a recent hearing, the top court warned that it would cancel the entire SIR process in Bihar if any illegality is found in the poll body's methodology.