The Election Commission of India (ECI) has directed Chief Electoral Officers, District Election Officers and Electoral Registration Officers to launch a special drive to identify and enrol eligible voters who were left out of electoral rolls after the completion of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). The exercise will cover voters whose names appeared in pre-SIR rolls but are missing from the current rolls, along with eligible first-time and young voters who have not yet been enrolled.

The directive followed a meeting between the Commission and Chief Electoral Officers on October 1. The ECI reiterated that voter enrolment is a continuous process and that eligible citizens can seek inclusion even if their names were not included during the SIR enumeration. The Commission has asked electoral authorities in states and Union Territories where the revision has been completed to facilitate enrolment through the continuous updation process.

Under the exercise, Booth Level Officers will compare current electoral rolls with pre-SIR rolls and prepare booth-wise lists of voters whose names are missing. They will then undertake house-to-house verification to determine the present status of these electors and facilitate applications through Form 6 wherever they are found eligible. BLOs will also identify first-time and young voters during their visits, with the status of identified electors to be recorded and shared with the relevant electoral authorities.

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The Commission has also directed officials to organise Booth Level Camps to help citizens submit enrolment applications. Special camps will be held for people living in night shelters and labour colonies, as well as homeless and other marginalised sections. Booth-wise lists will be shared with Booth Level Agents of recognised political parties and the concerned EROs, while EROs will examine Form 6 applications and field verification reports under the Representation of the People Act, 1950 and the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.

The special drive comes amid continuing scrutiny of the SIR exercise and the electoral-roll revision process. The ECI has said that lists of electors categorised as Absent, Shifted, Dead and Duplicate were prepared during enumeration and made available through local authorities, political party representatives and state Chief Electoral Officer websites. In Goa, the Commission recently reported that 88 of 97 voters whose names were left out had either filed Form 6 applications or had their applications accepted.

The ECI has asked officials to conduct awareness and mobilisation campaigns through educational institutions, local outreach programmes and SVEEP activities while monitoring the progress of the enrolment exercise. The move follows the Commission's recent clarification that the additional SIR declaration attached to Form 6 would be removed in states and Union Territories where the revision had been completed, with the regular forms prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, continuing to apply.

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