The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has generated considerable interest and confusion among voters. The process involves linking current voter records with the 2002 electoral rolls, submitting declarations and, in some cases, furnishing supporting documents. From the purpose of the exercise to the concerns raised by political parties, here are answers to some frequently asked questions:

What is SIR?

Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has been taken up by the Election Commission of India to update and correct voters’ list. SIR has already been done eight times from 1951 till 2004, says the Election Commission of India on its website. The last SIR conducted in area that is now Telangana was in 2002. In the past, the electors’ data used to be collected from scratch while since 2002, the process has been modernised, with updates made to the existing data.

Why is SIR needed?

Electoral rolls need to be cleaned up to prevent duplication, remove names of deceased voters and make corrections to the existing data, in order to maintain sanctity of the democratic process. Its door-to-door approach makes it different from the Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls conducted on a regular basis. 

What is the process for SIR?

SIR is being conducted with pre-printed enumeration forms which are brought to the elector’s doorstep by the Booth Level Officers (BLOs) appointed for each polling station. In Telangana, the door-to-door visits by BLOs will start from June 25 and continue up to July 24. Every BLO, covering about 1,000 electors, needs to visit each household at least thrice during this period — to give enumeration forms, assist in the process of filling up forms and to collect the forms back. The BLO will also assist the electors in mapping their entry with 2002 electoral rolls, which is made mandatory in the latest SIR. 

In case of fresh voters, the BLOs will also provide Form-6 along with the declaration form for enrolment. 

The elector can also fill the form online by accessing the web page ‘https://voters.eci.gov.in’. For this, the name of the elector needs to match his or her name on the Aadhaar card. 

After completion of door-to-door form collection, the draft electoral rolls will be published on July 31. A month’s time up to August 30 will be given to file claims and objections, and final electoral rolls will be published on October 1. 

Between July 31 and September 28 is the ‘Notice Phase’, when the Electoral Registration Officers (ERO) will issue notices to electors whose details could not be mapped or are mapped with anomalies, and hear claims and objections. Those receiving the notices should meet the ERO at the appointed time with relevant documents to prove their citizenship. 

What is pre SIR mapping?

The pre-mapping exercise entailed matching the electors from 2002 SIR with those in the current list, before the full scale SIR was conducted. The pre-mapped electors need not provide any documents for enrolment during the SIR process, provided the details match. 

Voters can search for their names in 2002 list by accessing the links ‘https://ceotelangana.nic.in’ or ‘https://voters.eci.gov.in’. The search criteria that may be used include the elector’s name, or the relative’s name and type. Part wise electoral roll data in PDF is also hosted on the site to facilitate search by polling station. The printed hard copy of the 2002 rolls will be made available with the BLOs during their visit. 

If the name of an elector is not found in the 2002 rolls, he/she can try to retrieve the elector details of his/her parents or grandparents, the details of whom should be filled in the enumeration form. These details may be traced from the official website of the Chief Electoral Officer of Telangana, at ‘https:// ceotelangana.nic.in’ by using names or EPIC numbers as the search criteria. 

What concerns have political parties raised? 

Political parties have raised concerns over electors categorised as “anomalies”. Among the instances cited are electors shown as having six children, discrepancies in the spelling of names between the 2002 and 2025 electoral rolls, an age difference of 15 years between a father and child, and an age difference of 40 years between a grandfather and grandchild.  

Parties have sought the inclusion of State-issued documents, including driving licences and other identity records. Clarity has been also sought about whether or not electors are required to affix their respective photographs, or if they will come pre-printed on the form. Given that several electors cannot read Telugu, demands for them to be issued in English and Urdu have been made.

What are the challenges for electors?

Those who have frequently changed residences while living in rented accommodation are also uncertain about the procedure. 

Many electors said that they found it difficult to search their names on the website. Some electors and, in some cases, their parents do not appear to remember the constituencies, and booth numbers (not a mandatory field) in which they were enrolled while searching the 2002 electoral rolls.  

The issue of different spelling of electors and their parents in elector list of 2025 and that of 2002 is also commonplace. Questions also remain over whether such electors should apply as new voters or seek correction of their particulars through Form 8.