This comes amid increased scrutiny over voter deletions.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has directed a special drive to enrol “left-out and first-time/young electors” in states where the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll has been completed.
Tens of thousands of voters have been left out since 2025, drawing criticism from the Opposition and civil society groups, as part of the SIR. In Bihar, where the SIR began in 2025, details of over 78.9 million voters were verified. The final SIR list published in the state on September 30, 2025, had nearly 74.2 million names, a net fall of about 4.7 million, or nearly 6%. The order came as chief minister DK Shivakumar staged a protest alleging an organised effort to remove voters through Form 7 applications during the SIR. The Indian Express last month reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi recorded objections to decisions taken in the ECI’s name at least 14 times over 10 months. The reported disagreements involved changes to Form 6 for the inclusion of names in the electoral roll, the centralisation of controls in Delhi, voter deletion appeals in West Bengal, and the failure to add eligible voters in Goa.
BLOs will share the lists with the booth-level agents of recognised parties. At the end, electoral registration officers (EROs) will share booth-wise lists with party representatives, giving them an opportunity to enable enrolment of any left-out electors. CEOs, district election officers and EROs have been asked to run awareness drives so every eligible citizen is aware of the opportunity to get enrolled. The ECI has directed a review of the progress at the CEO, DEO and ERO levels. The ECI faces scrutiny over the SIR.
On Thursday, Karnataka CEO V Anbukkumar ordered election officials to initiate legal proceedings against people who knowingly submit false claims or objections regarding changes to electoral rolls.
