The Election Commission of India on Monday (October 27, 2025) kicked off the second phase of the the Special Intensive Revision of voter lists in 12 States and Union Territories, including in poll-bound Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala, and Puducherry. The revision will cover 51 crore voters.
For now, there will be no SIR in Assam, scheduled to vote next year, and a separate order will be issued for the State later.
“Under the Citizenship Act, there are separate provisions for citizenship in Assam. Under the supervision of the Supreme Court, the exercise of checking citizenship is about to be completed. The June 24 SIR order was for the entire country. Under such circumstances, this would not have applied to Assam,” Chief Election Commission Gyanesh Kumar said at press conference here.
The exercise will be in focus in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, where the ruling parties – the Trinamool Congress and the DMK – have opposed it.
Addressing a press conference, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar says, “BLOs will visit every household three times. To address the issue of migrated voters, people can now submit their enumeration forms online.”#ElectionCommission#SIR#Elections2025… pic.twitter.com/uSQKROPm1h
Besides the poll-bound States, the latest SIR will be conducted in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Goa, and Gujarat, and in the Union Territories of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Lakshadweep.
The first phase of the SIR was held in Bihar following which more than 68 lakh names were deleted from the electoral rolls.
With the announcement of the second round, the voter lists of the 12 States and Union Territories will be frozen from Monday midnight.
Most States had the last SIR of the voter lists done between 2002 and 2004, and they have nearly completed the mapping of current electors according to the last exercise. Voter mapping involves standardising addresses and correcting discrepancies.
In this phase of the SIR, the house-to-house enumeration will take place for a month from November 4 to December 4, and the draft rolls will be published on December 9. Claims and objections can be raised from December 9 to January 8. Notices will be issued, and hearings and verifications will take place between December 9 and January 31. Booth-level officers will be trained, and forms will be printed between October 28 and November 3. The final electoral rolls will be published on February 7, the poll body said.
To a question on the demands for putting off the SIR exercise in Kerala where local body elections are scheduled, Mr. Kumar said the poll notification was yet to be issued.
On the SIR in West Bengal, where the ruling Trinamool Congress has raised objections against the exercise, the CEC said the Commission was doing its constitutional duty by carrying out the SIR, and the State government will perform its duties by giving all support and manpower needed.
When asked whether the poll body will give new EPIC cards to all voters as stated during the SIR in Bihar, Mr. Kumar said fresh voter IDs will be given to only those who have any change in their particulars.
