In a letter to the CEOs of all States and UTs, the ECI has said that Booth Level Officers (BLO) should prepare a list of electors whose names had been left out and then make door to door visits to ascertain their present status and ensure their enrolment through Form 6 if the concerned person is found eligible.
| Photo Credit: J ALLEN EGENUSE
The Election Commission has directed the Chief Electoral Officers of all States and Union Territories where the Special Intensive Revision has been completed or is underway to compare the pre-SIR voter lists with the current ones and enrol within a period on one month those who have been left out but are eligible.
In a letter to the CEOs of all States and UTs, the ECI has said that Booth Level Officers (BLO) should prepare a list of electors whose names had been left out and then make door to door visits to ascertain their present status and ensure their enrolment through Form 6 if the concerned person is found eligible.
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“BLOs shall compare the current electoral roll with the pre-SIR electoral roll and identify such electors whose names were there in the pre-SIR roll but who are not included in the current electoral roll and prepare a list of such electors,” the letter said.
It further said that BLOs shall undertake House-to-House (H2H) visits in respect of such identified electors to ascertain their present status and facilitate enrolment through Form 6, wherever the person is found to be eligible.
The ECI’s letter, which was issued after a video conferencing with all the CEOs, suggested that the BLOs may cover at least 20-25 electors in a week so as to complete this exercise within a period of about one month. “They shall also indicate the present status of each such elector in the list prepared by them. The electors for whom Form 6 has been filled up will also be indicated”.
The BLOs will share this list with the BLAs of the recognised political parties and EROs along with the filled in application forms in Form 6 and their field verification report.
Apart from this, Booth Level Camps shall be organised to facilitate submission of applications for enrolment. Special camps may also be organised for enrolment of people living in night shelters, labour colonies as well as for homeless and marginalised person.
Till now, approximately 13.3 crore names have been deleted from the electoral rolls in States where the SIR process has been completed or is under way.
An analysis by The Hindu found that around 2.7 crore or 21% have been declared dead, and of the remaining, approximately 1.01 crore have been flagged as multiple entry cases and 9.5 crore marked in the absent/shifted/others category. This in effect means that 72% of the voters whose names have been deleted could be back in the voter lists once the SIR process is completed.
The EC has already announced a special drive to enrol new voters in its meeting on September 26. “Voter enrolment is a continuous process and any person not yet enrolled in the electoral roll or whose name has got deleted can apply for enrolment at any point of time. The objective of the special drive is to identify and facilitate such electors, the new note said.
However, former Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi has questioned the EC’s move to re-enrol voters using Form 6.
He said Form 6 cannot be filled by a deleted voter. “It’s only for NEW voters. All those who have been forced to fill it have committed criminal offence carrying one year prison. EC officials who forced them are abetters to crime. This press note shows ECI’s abetment!”, he said in a post on X.
Senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram said that the S.I.R. resulted in many lakhs of voters being excluded “in haste” and the Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar spent several crores of rupees in excluding 13,30.00,000 voters and he is now spending crores of rupees to include them!
As part of the SIR process, in the enumeration phase, a list of Absent, Shifted, Dead and Duplicate (ASDD) voters was prepared by each Booth Level Officer (BLO), with the probable reason for non-inclusion of their names. This list was displayed at notice board of respective Panchayat Bhawans/Urban Local bodies and offices of the BDOs/Panchayat officers/ULB officers, shared with the BLAs and with the political parties and also uploaded on the CEO website. Thereafter, the draft was published and shared with the political parties and also uploaded on the CEO website. The final electoral roll was published after decision on the claims and objections by the EROs and includes the list of electors that were added or deleted after the draft publication.
Published – October 02, 2026 11:02 am IST
