ECI Begins Second Phase Of Voter List Overhaul Across Nine States And Three UTs

On Tuesday, the Election Commission of India (ECI) began the second phase of its Special Intensive Revision (SIR), a large-scale exercise to verify and update voter lists in nine states and three Union Territories.

The initiative focuses on improving the accuracy and credibility of the country’s electoral rolls to ensure fair and transparent elections.

This new phase comes shortly before the first round of polling in the Bihar Assembly elections.

A similar revision there led to the removal of more than 68 lakh names from the voter list after officials confirmed cases of duplication, migration, or death.

In this phase, the revision drive will include close to 51 crore voters from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Puducherry, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Lakshadweep. Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, and Puducherry are among the states preparing for Assembly elections in 2026.

Schedule and Key Dates

The updated schedule sets the enumeration process from today until 4 December. Draft voter rolls will be published on 9 December.

Citizens can file claims or objections between 9 December and 8 January 2026.

Hearings and verifications will take place by 31 January 2026, and the final electoral rolls will released on 7 February 2026.

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, in a briefing held in October, praised officials and voters in Bihar for completing the earlier phase successfully.

He said the SIR exercise, often described as a ‘purification drive’, plays an essential role in maintaining the reliability of India’s voter database.

He pointed out that India has undertaken eight such nationwide revisions since Independence, the last one being more than 20 years ago in 2004.

Political parties have repeatedly urged the Commission to conduct these checks regularly to make sure that only genuine voters remain on the rolls.

Explaining the process, the Chief Election Commissioner stated that officials will print and distribute enumeration forms across all participating states and Union Territories.

During this period, voter lists will remian temporarily frozen to allow officials to update and verify entries accurately.

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