Election Commission orders special drive to enrol voters left out after SIR

The Election Commission of India has ordered election officials across the country to launch a special drive to identify and enrol eligible citizens left off the voter lists following the Special Intensive Revision.

The directive applies to electors whose names were present on pre-revision rolls but are absent from the updated lists, as well as young people and first-time electors who have not yet registered. The Commission told officials that registering voters remains an ongoing process, and that no eligible citizen should lose the right to vote simply because they were omitted during the revision enumeration.

The instruction followed an all-state meeting between the Commission and Chief Electoral Officers on 1 October.

How the verification drive will work

Under the new instructions, Booth Level Officers will compare current voter lists against the registers that existed before the intensive revision began. Using those comparisons, they will draft booth-wise lists of all electors whose names were dropped.

Officers will then carry out door-to-door visits to establish each person's current living situation and voting eligibility. When an omitted citizen qualifies to vote, the officer will assist them in completing and submitting Form 6 to restore their name to the roll.

The Commission has set a clear timetable for the work. Each Booth Level Officer must verify at least 20 to 25 dropped electors every week, with the entire verification effort scheduled to finish within a month. During the same household visits, officers are instructed to search out unregistered young people and first-time voters to help them submit enrolment forms on the spot.

Scrutiny and political party involvement

Officers will keep a log of each elector checked during the drive, including the status of any submitted Form 6 applications.

To ensure transparency, the booth-level lists will be shared directly with Booth Level Agents appointed by recognised political parties, as well as with Electoral Registration Officers.

Once the field visits conclude, Electoral Registration Officers will take up the Form 6 applications and field verification reports for formal processing. Decisions on the applications will be made under the provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.