Election Commission extends SIR deadline in five states and one UT

In a statement, the EC said it had revised the schedule “based on the requests received from the Chief Electoral Officers of the 6 states/UT”.

Kolkata, Dec 10 (ANI): West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Agarwal, Special Roll Observer Subrata Gupta, and others hold meeting on Special Intensive Revision (SIR) at CEO office at B.B.D Bagh, in Kolkata on Wednesday. (ANI Photo)

However, in another statement Thursday, EC data showed that in five of the six states/UT, enumeration work had been completed, with 100% digitisation of enumeration forms. Only Uttar Pradesh, out of the six states/UT that got extensions, was below 100%, with 99.61% forms digitised.

The EC did not extend the deadline in West Bengal and Rajasthan where the digitisation was 99.96% and 99.64%, respectively. As per its earlier schedule, the EC was to publish the final electoral rolls on February 14, 2026. Thursday’s announcement did not mention the date for the final roll publication, however, sources said that too would be adjusted and announced separately.

Kolkata: Marginalised electors visit a help desk camp for Special Intensive Revision (SIR) at Kalighat Red Light area, in Kolkata, West Bengal, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (PTI Photo)(PTI12_10_2025_000179B)

EC sources said the states had requested for more time for re-verification of the draft roll. The authorities have this week shared the list of the electors marked absent, dead and shifted with Booth Level Agents of political parties to verify the same, the sources said. On Wednesday, the EC had said in a statement that the lists were being shared with parties “to ascertain the exact status of each such elector on the ASD list, so that any error can be rectified before the publication of the draft electoral rolls itself”.

Now, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat electors have time until Sunday, December 14 to submit forms; and the draft roll will be published on December 19, as per the new schedule. The deadline for enumeration in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Andaman and Nicobar Islands has been extended to December 18, while publication of the draft roll will be on December 23. Uttar Pradesh has been given the longest extension of two weeks, with the enumeration deadline pushed to December 26 and the draft publication to December 31.

Tamil Nadu election officials confirmed that the state had sought a brief extension to complete a final round of meetings with booth-level officers and other staff, according to the Chief Electoral Officer’s office. On the progress of the voter roll update, the office said that roughly 3-4 per cent of entries remained unmapped, with a clearer picture expected only after the next phase of verification.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa said a two-week extension had been requested to complete the SIR process and to prepare an accurate electoral roll, so that District Election Officers could re-verify the lists of the voters marked deceased, shifted and absent.

An official in Gujarat, however, said the state had not requested for an extension. “The twelve states have different requirements but there was no such deadline extension request from our side as we have completed the form collection process, largely before December 4,” a senior Gujarat government official told The Indian Express, adding that the extra time would allow officials to look for those electors who have not been traced so far and to re-check the details of those above the age of 85 years.

For the remaining states/UT (Goa, Puducherry, Lakshadweep, Rajasthan and West Bengal), the enumeration ended Thursday and the draft will be published on December 16.

“In order to ensure that no eligible elector is left behind, new electors are being encouraged to fill up the Form 6 along with the declaration and submit them to the BLOs or fill the form and declaration online using the ECINet App/website https://voters.eci.gov.in/ to get their names included in the final electoral rolls, which will be published in February 2026,” the EC said.

The poll panel had announced the SIR for nine states and three UTs on October 27, with the original deadline for submitting forms as December 4 and publication of draft rolls on December 9. The final electoral roll for all 12 states/UTs was to be published on February 7. The EC on November 30 extended the deadlines by one week.

According to the EC’s instructions, electors have to trace themselves or any adult relative to the electoral roll of the last intensive revision, which was done in the early 2000s. All those who are unable to provide the extract of the electoral roll of the last intensive revision with their name or a relative’s name will receive a notice after the draft roll is published and be asked to appear for a hearing before the Electoral Registration Officer. They will then be asked to submit documents to establish their eligibility. Sources said the process of matching the existing electors with the previous rolls is still ongoing.

The EC ordered the SIR for the whole country on June 24, starting with Bihar as Assembly elections were due in the state. The exercise involves all registered electors submitting enumeration forms in a specified time in order to remain on the draft roll, after which certain categories of electors are asked to provide documents to prove eligibility, including citizenship, to be included in the final roll. In the past 20 years, the electoral rolls have been revised annually and before elections by making changes to the existing lists, as opposed to preparing them afresh in an intensive revision.

The exercise has been challenged in the Supreme Court and has led to disruptions in Parliament, with the Opposition raising concerns that it will lead to disenfranchisement of genuine electors.