Vijayawada: Setting the tone for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR)-2026 exercise, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Vivek Yadav has called upon all political parties and citizens to actively cooperate in ensuring the preparation of clean, accurate, and credible electoral rolls. He emphasized that protecting the purity of voter lists is essential for strengthening democracy.
Revision Exercise Objectives
Addressing representatives of political parties here on Tuesday, the CEO stated that the revision exercise aims to ensure the inclusion of every eligible Indian citizen in the electoral rolls while removing names of deceased persons, duplicate entries, permanently shifted voters, and other ineligible individuals. Vivek Yadav noted that rapid urbanization, migration for education and employment, and demographic changes over the past two decades have led to several issues in electoral rolls, including the continuation of names of deceased voters and multiple registrations of the same person.
Concerns Prompt Comprehensive Revision
He explained that concerns raised by political parties and public representatives regarding the quality of voter lists prompted the Election Commission of India to undertake this comprehensive revision exercise. The SIR-2026 program in the state is being conducted with July 1, 2026, as the qualifying date. Preparatory activities, training, and printing of enumeration forms (EFs) will take place from June 5 to June 14, while booth level officers (BLOs) will carry out door-to-door distribution and collection of forms from June 15 to July 14. Rationalization of polling stations will also continue until July 14.
Enumeration Process and Forms
The CEO said that enumeration forms are being distributed to nearly 4.16 crore electors through 46,397 BLOs. Electoral registration officers (EROs) are issuing partially pre-filled forms based on records available as of May 25, 2026. He clarified that voters whose names already exist in the rolls need only submit the enumeration form along with an extract of the electoral roll and are not required to furnish any additional documents. BLOs will issue acknowledgment receipts while collecting the forms and will visit locked houses at least three times.
Online and Party Agent Facilities
Vivek Yadav stated that forms are also available on the Election Commission portal, and booth level agents (BLAs) appointed by political parties can submit up to 50 certified forms per day. An online facility for submission of enumeration forms will also be introduced shortly. The draft electoral roll will be published on July 21, 2026, while claims and objections can be filed between July 21 and August 20. The final electoral roll will be published on September 22 after completion of inquiries and disposal of claims and objections.
Clarifications on Aadhaar and Deletions
The CEO clarified that Aadhaar serves only as proof of identity and not as legal proof of citizenship or residence. He assured that no voter's name would be deleted without proper inquiry and a reasoned order. Special assistance facilities are also being provided to elderly persons, persons with disabilities, the sick, and economically weaker sections.
Meeting Attendees
Representatives who attended the meeting included P Ashok Babu, Koneru Suresh, and K Rajasekhar from TDP; E Sambasiva Pratap from Jana Sena Party; P Venkatramaiah (Nani), L Appireddy, Srikanth Reddy, ANN Murthy, and N Chandrasekhar Reddy from YSRCP; Nagothu Ramesh Naidu, V Srinivasa Raju, and Venna Hemanth from BJP; Dr T Seva Kumar and A Balaji Reddy from AAP; and Y Venkateswara Rao and J Jayaram from CPI(M). Additional CEO A Venkateswara Rao, Assistant CEO G Srinivasa Rao, and other officials were also present.
