SIR hearing in Bengal today. You will need these documents to update your details in 2026 electoral roll

A five-member Trinamool Congress delegation will meet the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer at BBD Bagh on Saturday amid the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The delegation includes Chandrima Bhattacharya, Manas Ranjan Bhunia, Moloy Ghatak, Aroop Biswas and Shashi Panja.

The meeting follows the Election Commission of India’s decision to extend the SIR timeline in the state, pushing the final publication of electoral rolls to February 14, 2026. The ECI said the extension was granted due to the scale of enumeration work and the need for thorough verification and rationalisation of polling stations.

Voters may submit any of 12 recognised documents, including Aadhaar, as proof of identity and address. However, the Election Commission has clarified that Aadhaar will not be accepted as a standalone document. State Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal said the process will be monitored by over 4,500 micro-observers, with only authorised officials permitted at the hearing centres.

What is SIR: SIR, or Special Intensive Revision, is a large-scale verification exercise that the ECI undertakes when it believes the routine annual “Summary Revision” is not enough to clean the voter rolls. It involves house-to-house enumeration, pre-filled forms, online submissions, and fresh verification of old voter data.

The Election Commission has power to conduct SIR whenever it deems fit as per Article 324 of the Indian Constitution. The ‘plenary powers’ granted to ECI allows the commission to order an intensive revision whenever it finds inaccuracies in the existing rolls.

Here is a step-by-step guide to check your name in  draft voter roll of SIR in West Bengal

Step 1: Visit the ECI Website https://voters.eci.gov.in/download-eroll? and select West Bengal
Step 2: Selecting district and constituency

The page will displays a table listing all the districts of West Bengal, Click on the name of your district to proceed.

A list of Assembly constituencies under the selected district will then appear. Clicking on the relevant constituency opens a Google Drive folder containing booth-level voter data in PDF format.

You may also search for your name on https://electoralsearch.eci.gov.in/ using your EPIC Number.

Step 3: Accessing booth-level PDFs

List of Indicative (not Exhaustive) Documents

1. Identity card as a state or central government employee or pension holder
2. Documents issued by post offices, banks, LIC or local authorities before 1987
3. Birth certificate
4. Passport
5. Madhyamik or other educational qualification certificates
6. Residential certificate issued by a state government authority
7. Forest rights certificate
8. Caste certificate
9. Family register maintained by local administration
10. Government-issued land or house allotment certificate

Why Special Intensive Revision (SIR) Is Conducted

1. Electoral rolls must be revised before elections or as required by law.
2. Political parties have consistently flagged errors and inconsistencies in voter lists.
3. SIR is a rare exercise, conducted only eight times between 1951 and 2004.
4. The last SIR was over 21 years ago (2002–2004).
5. Major demographic changes since then include:
6. Large-scale migration
7. Multiple registrations of the same voter
8. Non-removal of deceased voters
9. Inclusion of ineligible or foreign nationals

Key Stages of the SIR Exercise

1. Pre-enumeration: Training, manual and computerised matching with past rolls.
2. Enumeration: Distribution and collection of EFs, rationalisation of polling stations.
3. Draft roll publication: Includes only verified electors; excluded categories listed separately.
4. Hearings: Notices issued, documents verified, claims and objections decided.
5. Final roll publication: After appeals are resolved.

Rationalisation of Polling Stations

1. No polling station will have more than 1,200 electors.
2. New polling stations may be created in high-rise areas, RWAs, and slum clusters.
3. Authorities must consult political parties before changes.
4. Efforts made to keep entire families within the same polling station.