Overview
- At a two-day conference at IIIDEM in New Delhi on Oct 22–23, the Election Commission is reviewing state readiness for a Special Intensive Revision that rebuilds electoral rolls from scratch and is assessing compliance with its Sept 10 mapping directives.
- Officials say the Commission is expected to decide rollout dates after consultations, weighing a single nationwide round versus a two-phase plan, with a target to begin the exercise across the country by year-end.
- The SIR framework faces legal scrutiny, and the Supreme Court has directed the EC to accept Aadhaar as a 12th supporting document and to publish the names and reasons for any deletions from the rolls.
- Bihar’s pilot produced large-scale changes, with about 65 lakh names deleted at the draft stage and another 3.66 lakh in the final publication, intensifying focus on documentation and verification processes.
- West Bengal is a near-term focus, with mapping to the 2002 roll nearly complete and a notification expected after the meeting; voters listed in 2002 will be treated as valid while others must furnish specified proof, with Aadhaar alone not sufficient, according to the state CEO.