Election Commission says all nationwide SIR orders were unanimously approved
The Election Commission has said its nationwide Special Intensive Revision orders and related schedules received unanimous approval from all three commissioners. It also defended the SIR declaration attached to Form 6, addressed reports of internal differences and said final elector numbers would follow publication of remaining rolls.
The Election Commission has said that its order for a nationwide Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls was approved unanimously by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi. The statement came amid reports of differences within the three-member poll panel. The Commission said the order issued on June 24, 2025, for an SIR across all States and Union territories was unanimously approved.
The exercise began with Bihar and was followed by West Bengal and 30 other States and Union territories, it said. The Commission also said the Supreme Court upheld the order in its May 27, 2026 judgment. Schedules for 12 States and Union territories issued on October 27, 2025, and for another 19 issued on May 14, 2026, were likewise approved unanimously, according to the statement.
The final number of electors will be known only after electoral rolls are published in the remaining 12 States and Union territories under Phase III. The poll panel defended the declaration attached to Form 6, the application used for inclusion in electoral rolls, saying it had been upheld by the Supreme Court. For periods outside the SIR, it said the forms prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, would be used.
The Commission said letters sent by Mr. Sandhu and Mr. Joshi to the Cabinet Secretary concerned the functioning of an officer on deputation, rather than policy matters or the Commission’s information-technology division.
It said proposed work redistribution was not implemented after intervention by the two commissioners and that oversight of the IT division was never withdrawn. The full Commission met on September 26 and said meeting agendas would be circulated in advance and minutes issued. It also said directions given by commissioners to officials would be followed.
In Goa, house-to-house visits were ordered for 97 voters left out of the roll; 81 had already submitted Form 6 applications, the Commission said.
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