Explainer · Updated 2 Oct 2026

SIR Explained: 13 Crore Names Cut From Draft Voter Lists. Is Yours Still There?

What the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision is, what has happened in Bihar, Phase 2 and Phase 3, what the Supreme Court said, why the opposition calls it “vote chori”, and exactly what to do if your name is missing.

Deadlines are running right now in Delhi, Maharashtra and several other states

~13 crnames dropped from draft rolls across 30 states/UTs

5.18 crnet fall in Phase 2 final rolls (12 states/UTs)

2.07 crmissing from Maharashtra’s draft roll (21%)

27 May2026: Supreme Court upheld SIR

⚡ The 30-second version

SIR is a door-to-door re-check of every voter in a state. Booth Level Officers (BLOs) hand out forms, and anyone who can’t be found, has died, shifted or is listed twice gets dropped from the draft roll.
It ran in Bihar (2025), then 12 states/UTs in Phase 2, and 16 states + 3 UTs in Phase 3 (2026). Only Himachal Pradesh, J&K and Ladakh are still left.
The Supreme Court upheld it on 27 May 2026, with safeguards: no final deletion without notice, hearing and a written order.
Critics say lakhs of genuine voters are being cut. On 29 Sept 2026 the EC ordered a special drive in 20 states to re-enrol left-out voters using the plain Form 6.
Your move: search your name on voters.eci.gov.in. If it’s missing, file Form 6 now. Delhi claims close 30 Oct; Maharashtra’s close 12 Oct.

01What exactly is SIR?

SIR (Special Intensive Revision) is the Election Commission of India’s way of rebuilding a state’s voter list almost from scratch. Instead of only adding and removing names on request, BLOs go house to house with a pre-filled enumeration form for every listed voter. You check your details, sign, and hand it back. If no form comes back for you, your name doesn’t make it into the draft roll.

The legal power comes from Article 324 of the Constitution and Section 21(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, which lets the EC order a special revision “in such manner as it thinks fit”. The last revision of this intensive kind was in 2002–2004, and those old rolls are now the “legacy” reference used to link voters.

Normal yearly revision

Existing list is the starting point
You stay on unless someone objects
You apply only to add, delete or correct

Special Intensive Revision

Every voter must return an enumeration form
No form = left out of the draft roll
Voters may be asked to link to the 2002–04 roll or show documents

02The three phases, in order

June – Sept 2025

Phase 1: Bihar

Ordered 24 June 2025. The draft roll (1 Aug) dropped about 65 lakh names. After claims, 21.53 lakh were added and 3.66 lakh more removed. The final roll (30 Sept 2025) had 7.42 crore voters, down from 7.89 crore.

Nov 2025 – Feb 2026

Phase 2: 9 states + 3 UTs

UP, West Bengal, Gujarat, MP, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa, Puducherry, Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep. About 51 crore voters were enumerated. Nearly 6.5 crore names fell off the draft rolls, and the final rolls ended 5.18 crore lower.

27 May 2026

Supreme Court upholds SIR

A bench of CJI Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi rejected the challenges in ADR v. Election Commission but laid down safeguards (see section 06).

May 2026 – Dec 2026

Phase 3: 16 states + 3 UTs

Ordered 14 May 2026, covering about 36.73 crore voters, including Maharashtra, Delhi, Karnataka, Telangana, Punjab, Odisha and Haryana. Maharashtra’s draft alone dropped 2.07 crore names.

Sept – Oct 2026

The row explodes

Reports surfaced that Election Commissioner S.S. Sandhu had flagged concerns. On 26 Sept the EC said all SIR decisions were unanimous. On 29 Sept it ordered a special drive in 20 states to bring back left-out voters with the plain statutory Form 6.

03Check your state: phase, numbers and deadline

🗳️ Where does your state stand?

Pick your state or UT to see its SIR phase, the latest published numbers and what you should do now.

Your state / UT

Phase 3 dates have been revised more than once. Delhi and Maharashtra dates here are from the EC’s 26 Sept 2026 revision. For the others we show the latest published schedule, so always confirm on your state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) website.

04Phase 2: how many names each state lost

These are the final rolls after claims and objections, compared with the rolls before SIR began. Red bars mark drops above 12%.

State / UT	Before SIR	Final roll	Change
Uttar Pradesh	15.44 cr	13.39 cr	−13.2%
West Bengal	7.69 cr	6.86 cr	−10.9%
Tamil Nadu	6.41 cr	5.67 cr	−11.5%
Madhya Pradesh	5.74 cr	5.39 cr	−6.0%
Rajasthan	5.46 cr	5.15 cr	−5.7%
Gujarat	5.08 cr	4.40 cr	−14.5%
Kerala	2.78 cr	2.69 cr	−3.2%
Chhattisgarh	2.12 cr	1.87 cr	−11.8%
Goa	11.85 L	10.57 L	−10.8%
Puducherry	10.21 L	9.44 L	−7.5%
Andaman & Nicobar	3.10 L	2.58 L	−16.6%
Lakshadweep	57,000	~56,800	−0.35%
Phase 2 total	50.99 cr	45.81 cr	−10.2%

Why the drop isn’t automatically “fraud” or “theft”: the EC groups removals as absent, shifted, dead or duplicate. Rolls that weren’t fully cleaned for two decades will carry dead voters and people registered in two places. The real argument is over how many of the removed names were genuine, living, resident voters who simply missed the form or couldn’t link to the 2002–04 roll. Nobody has published a full, verified breakdown of that yet.

05What documents do you need?

The rules have not been the same in every phase, which is one of the main complaints. Pick your birth period to see how Bihar’s age-based rule worked, and how later phases changed it.

📄 Document checker

When were you born?

The 12 accepted documents

The EC’s original list had 11 documents. The Supreme Court made it add Aadhaar as the 12th, but only as proof of identity, not citizenship.

1Indian passport

2Birth certificate from a competent authority

3Matriculation / higher education certificate from a recognised board or university

4Permanent residence certificate

5OBC / SC / ST or other caste certificate

6Central/state govt or PSU employee or pensioner ID / pension order

7Any govt / bank / post office / LIC / PSU document issued before 1 July 1987

8Land or house allotment certificate by the government

9Family register prepared by state / local body

10Forest rights certificate

11National Register of Citizens document (where it exists)

12Aadhaar (identity only, not citizenship)

In Phase 2, an extract of the post-SIR Bihar roll was also accepted. If it shows your parents’ names, you only need to add your own date of birth.

06What the Supreme Court said

ADR v. Election Commission of India: SIR upheld27 May 2026 · CJI Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi

Upheld: the EC can run state-wide SIR under Article 324 and Section 21(3). The procedure is not arbitrary and passes the proportionality test.
No silent deletions: a final deletion can happen only after notice, a hearing and a “speaking order” (a written order with reasons).
Two-tier appeal stays open to anyone removed.
Citizenship: the EC’s view on citizenship decides only whether you go on the voter list. It is not a final ruling on whether you’re Indian. Doubtful cases go to the competent authority, and names deleted over citizenship doubts must be sent to the Centre within four weeks.
Aadhaar: valid for identity, not as proof of citizenship.

07Why it has become a political storm

SIR is now one of the most argued-over decisions the Election Commission has made. Here is each side’s case in its own terms.

Election Commission

“Clean rolls, no eligible voter left out”

Rolls carried dead, shifted and duplicate voters for two decades.
All SIR orders (24 June 2025, 27 Oct 2025, 14 May 2026) were approved unanimously by the three commissioners, according to the EC’s 26 Sept press note.
Anyone left out can claim with Form 6, and deletions need a hearing.
The Supreme Court upheld the exercise.

Opposition

“Mass deletion, or vote chori”

Congress, TMC, SP, DMK, RJD and the Left say the scale of removals (about 13 crore from draft rolls) hits the poor, migrants and minorities hardest.
Congress has demanded that CEC Gyanesh Kumar resign and that SIR be suspended.
Points to reports that EC Sandhu objected to a July change to Form 6 and called it “unauthorised”.
Asks why the relief given to Delhi and Maharashtra wasn’t extended to states that had already finished.

Ground-level concerns

Workers and vulnerable voters

Deaths of BLOs were reported in several states during Phase 2. Families alleged work pressure, and the EC denied any link.
In West Bengal, Hindu refugees who settled after 2002, including many Matuas, feared they couldn’t link to the legacy roll.
Some critics, and the EC, also cite illegal immigrants on rolls as a reason the exercise was needed.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor praised the idea of SIR in Sept 2025, so the split isn’t purely along party lines.

The Form 6 twist: in July 2026 an extra question was added to Form 6 asking whether you or your parents were on the roll after the last SIR, and you couldn’t submit without answering it. That hits first-time voters hardest. The EC’s 29 Sept order says the special drive must use the plain statutory Form 6, with that declaration limited to the SIR phase only.

08Name missing? Do this today

Search your nameGo to voters.eci.gov.in or the ECINet app and search by EPIC number or by name + details. Check the current draft or final roll for your state, not an old voter slip.
Not found? File Form 6Form 6 is for new voters and for anyone left out. Attach one document from the list above. During the claims window, BLOs and Voter Help Centres can take it offline too.
Wrong details or shifted? Use Form 8Use it for name or age errors, a change of address within or across constituencies, or replacing your EPIC card.
Keep the acknowledgementSave the reference number. If you get a notice for a hearing, attend it or send documents. Deletions need a written order.
Still missing from the final roll? AppealFile a first appeal before the District Election Officer / District Magistrate within 15 days, then a second appeal to the state CEO.
Use the special driveIn the 20 states where SIR is over, officers have been told to compare old and new rolls and visit left-out voters. Mumbai has enrolment camps on 3, 4, 10 and 11 October.

Form 6Add a name: new or left-out voter

Form 7Object to a name (dead, shifted, duplicate)

Form 8Correct details, shift address, replace EPIC

09FAQs

No. The Supreme Court made it clear that the EC’s view affects only whether you are on the electoral roll. It isn’t a final citizenship ruling, and doubtful cases have to be referred to the competent authority.

In Phases 2 and 3, linking yourself (or a parent) to the legacy 2002–04 roll was the main route. If the link is clean, you usually don’t need extra documents. Name spelling mismatches (“logical discrepancies”) have triggered notices, though, so keep one document ready.

Aadhaar is accepted as the 12th document for identity. It’s not treated as proof of citizenship, so in a citizenship-related notice you may be asked for something more.

No. You can file Form 6 during the claims period, and even after the final roll, until 10 days before the last date of nominations for an election. The 29 Sept special drive is specifically aimed at people who were left out.

Per the EC’s 26 Sept 2026 revision, Delhi claims and objections run until 30 Oct, with the final roll on 4 Dec 2026. Maharashtra claims run until 12 Oct, with the final roll on 16 Nov 2026. Both use 1 Oct 2026 as the qualifying date, so anyone turning 18 by then can apply.

Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh. Their schedules are due separately because of Census Phase-II timelines and snow-bound terrain.

A Booth Level Officer is usually a local government employee (often a teacher or anganwadi worker) responsible for one polling booth’s roll. You can find your BLO’s name and number on voters.eci.gov.in under “Know your BLO” or in the ECINet app.

SIR Explained: 13 Crore Names Cut From Voter Lists, Is Yours Still There?