New Delhi, October 2, 2026: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has ordered a special voter-enrolment drive in the 20 states and Union Territories where the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has already been completed, opening a route for eligible citizens whose names were left out to seek inclusion.
The Commission has directed Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs), District Election Officers (DEOs) and Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) to facilitate enrolment under the existing system of continuous updation. The exercise also covers young people and first-time voters who are eligible but not yet registered.
The ECI's official September 26 statement confirms that SIR had been completed in 20 states and UTs, including Bihar and West Bengal, and instructed election officials to “immediately launch” the special drive.
How Will ‘Left-Out’ Voters Get Their Names Added?
An important element of the exercise concerns Form 6, the statutory application used for inclusion of a name in an electoral roll.
According to The Indian Express, voters seeking enrolment in the 20 states and UTs where SIR is complete will use the standard Form 6 without the additional SIR-related question that had been introduced during the revision exercise.
The September 29 instructions were subsequently reiterated during a meeting with state CEOs, according to reports. Election authorities were asked to identify people who may have been left out and facilitate their enrolment.
This means an eligible citizen excluded from the revised roll is not necessarily permanently removed from the electoral system. The continuous-updation mechanism provides a route to apply for inclusion.
Officials Asked to Identify Potentially Left-Out Electors
According to The Indian Express's reporting, state election authorities were also asked to compare electoral rolls from before and after SIR and identify deleted electors who may still qualify for inclusion.
Particular attention is expected to be paid to people who were not mapped to another location and were not identified as duplicate or deceased electors. Officials may then assist eligible individuals with the Form 6 process.
The ECI's own statement establishes the broader objective: anyone left out during SIR or afterward may approach the relevant ERO for inclusion, and election authorities have been directed to facilitate that process.
Why Has the Special Drive Been Introduced?
The initiative comes amid scrutiny of the scale and implementation of the nationwide SIR.
Reports say roughly 13 crore names were removed from draft electoral rolls during the exercise across 30 states and UTs. That figure requires an important qualification: removal from a draft roll does not by itself establish that 13 crore eligible voters were wrongly disenfranchised. Draft-roll deletions can include deceased voters, duplicate registrations, people who have shifted residence and other cases, as well as potentially eligible people who need to establish or restore their registration.
The special drive therefore focuses on the narrower issue of eligible people who may have been left out and provides them with a mechanism to return to the rolls.
Goa Case Highlights Practical Problem
Goa has provided a concrete example of the type of problem election officials are trying to address.
The ECI said in its September 26 statement that the Goa CEO had directed Booth Level Officers to conduct house-to-house visits to collect forms from left-out voters. At the time of that statement, 81 of 97 identified voters had filled Form 6 seeking inclusion.
More recent reporting from Goa indicates further progress in those cases.
The example illustrates why the post-SIR enrolment mechanism matters: completion of a revision exercise does not end the need to correct omissions or process eligible new registrations.
ECI Says SIR Decisions Had Unanimous Approval
The SIR process has also been accompanied by debate over decision-making within the Election Commission.
In its September 26 press note, the ECI said that the nationwide SIR order issued on June 24, 2025, as well as subsequent schedules, had the unanimous approval of the Commission. It also said the Supreme Court had upheld the SIR directions in an order dated May 27, 2026.
The Commission's statement came amid reporting about objections raised by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi concerning some administrative and procedural decisions, including issues connected with Form 6 and ECINet.
These are distinct questions: the ECI says the overall SIR orders and schedules were unanimously approved, while reporting has described disagreements over particular implementation and administrative decisions.
Why the Special Enrolment Drive Matters
The accuracy of electoral rolls involves two objectives that can sometimes pull in different directions: removing entries that are no longer valid while ensuring that every eligible citizen retains a practical opportunity to register.
Removing deceased, duplicate or otherwise ineligible entries can improve roll accuracy. At the same time, erroneous exclusion of an eligible voter can affect that person's ability to participate in an election.
The special drive is therefore significant because it creates an additional administrative effort to identify and enrol eligible people who may have fallen outside the revised lists rather than relying entirely on individuals to discover the omission themselves.
What Should Voters Do?
Eligible citizens in the affected states and UTs should verify whether their names appear on the current electoral roll. Those whose names are missing can apply to the relevant ERO for inclusion through the continuous-updation process using Form 6, subject to the applicable eligibility requirements.
The ECI has specifically instructed CEOs and other election officials to facilitate applications from left-out, young and first-time voters.
The final impact of the special drive will depend on how many eligible voters are identified, how quickly their applications are processed and how effectively election authorities conduct outreach across the affected states and UTs.
