New Delhi, Sep 26: The three-member Election Commission on Saturday met here and said that, in the case of any person to whom notice has been issued during the ongoing SIR for being unmapped and for logical discrepancies, BLOs will visit their homes for the collection of documents and thereafter upload them on the ECINET for decision by the ERO.
EC also gave Delhi and Maharashtra more time to file claims and objections, and ordered a review of the ECINET voter-roll system. The full Commission met at 3 pm at Nirvachan Sadan in New Delhi. Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi attended.
The meeting followed reports of internal differences over SIR. The Commission said the nationwide SIR order and later state schedules were approved unanimously and upheld by the Supreme Court on 27 May 2026.
Do voters with SIR notices have to visit the ERO office?
No, not in most cases. If a voter received an SIR notice for being “unmapped” or for logical discrepancies, a Booth Level Officer will visit the home, collect documents, and upload them on ECINET. The Electoral Registration Officer will then decide the case.
A personal hearing at the ERO or AERO office will be held only in exceptional cases chosen by the ERO. That hearing should preferably be online. An adult family member can attend on the voter’s behalf. The Commission also asked officers to improve online hearing facilities.
Help desks for homeless people, labourers and night-shelter residents
District Election Officers must set up enough help desks and special camps for people living in night shelters, labourers, poor households and the homeless. The aim is to make SIR document collection and enrolment easier for voters who cannot easily reach an election office.
New SIR claims and objections dates for Delhi and Maharashtra
Form 6 for SIR and how left-out voters can enrol
The Commission said the Supreme Court has upheld the declaration attached to Form 6 during SIR. Outside the SIR period, officers must use the forms set out in the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.
SIR is already complete in 20 States and Union Territories, including Bihar and West Bengal. Anyone left off the roll — including young voters and first-time voters — can apply to the local ERO under continuous updation. Chief Electoral Officers, District Election Officers and EROs have been told to start a special enrolment drive at once.
In Goa, Booth Level Officers have been sent door to door to collect forms from left-out voters. The Commission said 81 of 97 such voters have already filed Form 6. Final voter numbers for the remaining 12 Phase-III States will be known only after final publication.
ECINET review announced
Field officers already have role-based access to ECINET as per their legal powers. A committee headed by a Senior Deputy Election Commissioner, with an independent expert from an IIT or IIIT, will check whether ECINET follows the relevant Acts and Rules and report to the Commission.
The portal has already been updated using suggestions from State CEOs. If field officers need more flexibility, that will be added. All new IT modules and portals will first go to the Committee of Officers before the Commission approves them.
