Polity and Governance › Elections

Electoral rolls, voting and technology

Who may vote and how the vote is cast and counted: the electoral roll, its revisions, voting machines and counting.

Showing 1 of 2 articles, those that changed from 1 to 31 July 2026.Show all

Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls

Prelims and Mains

LeadThe Special Intensive Revision of electoral rollsJune 2026

Why in news

The Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls was in its third phase in June 2026, covering 16 States and three Union Territories and about 36.7 crore electors. The Supreme Court had upheld the exercise on 27 May 2026, with conditions.

Background

An electoral roll is the list of persons entitled to vote in a constituency. It is normally updated every year by a summary revision, which adds and removes names from the existing list.

An intensive revision prepares the roll afresh, through house to house enumeration by Booth Level Officers.

The power comes from Article 324, which vests the superintendence of elections in the Election Commission, and from Section 21(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950.
Article 326 gives the vote to every citizen of 18 years or more who is not otherwise disqualified.
The exercise began with Bihar in 2025, went to a second group of States, and reached its third phase in May 2026.

What the Supreme Court held

The Commission may check whether a person is eligible to be on the roll.
It does not decide citizenship; that is done under the Citizenship Act, 1955.
Aadhaar and the voter identity card prove identity, not citizenship.
The exercise is valid only with notice, a hearing and a right of appeal before a name is removed.

Why it is contested

Scale of deletions: a Home Ministry committee on demographic change was reported as likely to study about 6.5 crore names deleted in earlier phases.
The burden on the voter: a person asked to prove eligibility must produce documents that the poor, migrants and married women who have moved often lack.
Citizenship by the back door: critics say a check of eligibility becomes, in practice, a test of citizenship by an authority not meant to decide it.
The case for it: rolls carry the dead, the shifted and duplicates, and a clean roll is a condition of a free and fair election.

Aadhaar and the roll

A petition heard in June 2026 said Aadhaar is being misused as proof of citizenship and residence.
Section 9 of the Aadhaar Act, 2016 says an Aadhaar number is not proof of citizenship or domicile.

Cases to cite

Association for Democratic Reforms v. Election Commission of India (2026): upheld the revision, subject to notice, hearing and appeal.
Lal Babu Hussein v. Electoral Registration Officer (1995): a person already on the roll cannot be asked to prove citizenship afresh without material against him.
Mohinder Singh Gill v. Chief Election Commissioner (1978): Article 324 is a reservoir of power, but it operates where the law is silent and must be exercised fairly.

The way forward

Publish the reasons for each deletion, by category, so that the exercise can be audited.
Accept a wide list of documents, and place the duty of verification on the State and not on the voter.
Decide appeals before an election is held on the revised roll.
Keep the roll separate from welfare and citizenship records, as the Court has said.

Prelims facts

Electoral rolls are prepared under the Representation of the People Act, 1950; the conduct of elections is under the Act of 1951.
Article 324: superintendence, direction and control of elections. Article 326: adult suffrage.
Form 6 is the application for inclusion of a name.
Aadhaar is not proof of citizenship (Section 9, Aadhaar Act).

Open the lead on its own page

An electoral roll is the list of persons entitled to vote in a constituency. It is normally updated every year by a summary revision, which adds and removes names from the existing list.

What changed

17 Jul 2026newly added
- On 17 July the Supreme Court said the revision serves electoral purposes only, relying on its judgment of 27 May.
- Roll data cannot decide citizenship or welfare eligibility; a question of citizenship must follow the Citizenship Act, 1955.
The Hindu, 17 Jul 2026: Supreme Court opposes use of SIR data for non-poll tasks (opens in a new tab)

Show history (3 other updates)

28 Sep 2026newly added
- West Bengal's appellate tribunals had decided only a small share of about 38 lakh appeals against inclusion or exclusion by the end of September.
- Two Election Commissioners recorded formal dissent against a change to Form 6 that asks whether the applicant, a parent or a grandparent was on the roll of the last revision.
- They held that a statutory form cannot be altered without amending the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.
The Hindu, 28 Sep 2026: 'It is only bypolls': Supreme Court agrees to hearing in West Bengal SIR on October 5 (opens in a new tab) · The Hindu, 27 Sep 2026: Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi | Dissent in the Election Commission (opens in a new tab) · The Hindu, 18 Sep 2026: West Bengal SIR: Over 37 lakh appeals stuck in Tribunals as Municipal polls draw near (opens in a new tab)
24 Aug 2026newly added
- Draft rolls published for 12 States and Union Territories of the third phase removed more than 1.5 crore names.
- Karnataka's draft roll dropped about 1.07 crore entries as absent, shifted, duplicate or dead.
- Claims and objections are heard before the final roll, due in Karnataka on 27 October.
The Hindu, 24 Aug 2026: 4.46 crore voters in Karnataka draft rolls; 1.07 crore names deleted (opens in a new tab) · The Hindu, 9 Aug 2026
16 Jun 2026LeadThe Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls