Odisha, Mizoram, Sikkim and Manipur Election Commission enumerates Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls

The Election Commission on Sunday announced the commencement of the enumeration phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Odisha, Mizoram, Sikkim and Manipur. The poll body had initiated the third phase of the SIR exercise across 16 states and three Union Territories on May 14 in a staggered manner. As part of the enumeration process, which began on Saturday, Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will carry out door-to-door visits to distribute, collect and verify enumeration forms. Voters can submit their completed forms either through the BLOs or via the online submission facility. Electors whose completed enumeration forms reach the Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) by June 28 will be included in the draft electoral rolls, according to PTI. Those who miss the deadline will still have an opportunity to seek inclusion in the voter list by applying as new electors through Form 6, along with the required declaration form, during the claims and objections period. The four states covered in the current phase of the exercise have a combined electorate of more than 3.67 crore. Odisha accounts for the largest share, with over 3.34 crore registered voters and a network of 38,123 Booth Level Officers (BLOs) and 8,391 Booth Level Agents (BLAs). The electorates of the other states stand at 8.75 lakh in Mizoram, 4.71 lakh in Sikkim, and 20.92 lakh in Manipur. The Election Commission has urged all eligible voters to take part in the SIR exercise and extend full cooperation to election officials conducting door-to-door verification to help maintain accurate and comprehensive electoral rolls. The poll body said the revision exercise has been undertaken to ensure that every eligible citizen is included in the voter list while preventing the registration of ineligible individuals. It reiterated that any Indian citizen who is 18 years of age or older on the qualifying date and is not disqualified under any legal provision is entitled to be enrolled as a voter. Emphasising the strength and credibility of India's electoral framework, Gyanesh Kumar on Saturday said that the ECI is striving to create what he described as one of the world's most accurate electoral rolls. Addressing the 2nd National Conference of Counsels Representing the Election Commission of India, the Chief Election Commissioner said the electoral machinery is actively working to register all citizens who have turned 18 while removing the names of ineligible individuals from the voter list. "All citizens of India who have attained 18 years of age are being included proactively by our electoral machinery, and all those who are ineligible, such as deceased, duplicate, absent, shifted, and foreign electors, are being systematically removed," ANI quoted CEC Gyanesh Kumar as saying. Kumar backed the SIR exercise and asserted that the process has withstood judicial scrutiny and remains a constitutionally valid mechanism for maintaining accurate electoral rolls. "The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) has not only withstood the scrutiny of the highest court in India, but it has also been immensely successful in meeting its constitutional and legal mandate. I must also share with you that this Special Intensive Revision is conducted under the close watch of more than 15 lakh booth-level agents, alongside the district and state presidents of all national and state political parties," the CEC noted. While concluding, he said, “The exercise is executed by over 11 lakh booth-level officers, Assistant Electoral Registration Officers... All of them are state government employees on deputation to the Election Commission of India, working together to prepare one of the most, and I repeat, one of the most accurate electoral rolls in the entire world.” Meanwhile, Kumar presided over a high-level review meeting in Dehradun on May 25 to evaluate the preparations for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Uttarakhand. During the meeting, Kumar stated that the primary objective of the exercise is to ensure the accuracy of the voter list by identifying "absent, shifted, deceased, duplicate, and foreign voters." He also urged electors to submit their latest passport-size photographs as part of the revision process and extend full cooperation to Booth Level Officers carrying out the exercise. Garvit Bhirani is a journalist based in Gurugram. He is a Deputy Chief Content Producer at LiveMint, where he covers national and international news stories, focusing on accuracy and compelling storytelling for readers. <br><br> With a total of six years of experience in journalism, he has previously worked with Vaco Binary Semantics for Google, taking on the role of news curation lead, and reported from the field on health, education, and agriculture stories for 101reporters and News9. He has also served as a content editor for entertainment and news media organisations. <br><br> Garvit holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism and mass communication from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University and Gurugram University, respectively. During college days, he joined India’s only non-profit student journalism network, where he anchored daily news updates and produced his own weekly show called ‘Data Fix’. <br><br> He was selected for the YES Foundation Media for Social Change Fellowship in Delhi, the Talking Data to the Fourth Pillar residential workshop, and the VOICE Fellowship in Pune. <br><br> He holds certificates in COVID-19-verification reporting, data journalism, food & agriculture, tech policy, media literacy and countering misinformation, and tackling election disinformation courses from Thomson Foundation, IndiaSpend, The Dialogue, US Mission in India, and AFP. <br><br> He can be reached on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/garvit-bhirani">LinkedIn</a> or on <a href="https://x.com/GarvitBhirani">@garvitbhirani</a> on X Stay updated with the latest Trending, India , World and US news.