New Delhi: The Election Commission has extended Delhi’s deadline for filing claims and objections during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls to October 30, 2026, following a request from the Chief Electoral Officer, Delhi. The deadline for disposing of notices, claims and objections has separately been extended to November 30, 2026.
The extensions were among the decisions taken at a Commission meeting held at 3 pm on September 26. The meeting also approved doorstep collection of documents from specified categories of SIR notice recipients, reducing the need for them to attend hearings at electoral registration offices.
For Delhi, the two deadlines cover different stages of the revision process. October 30 is the deadline for filing claims and objections, while November 30 is the deadline for authorities to complete the disposal of notices, claims and objections. The later date is not an extension of the filing window.
Alongside the Delhi-specific extension, the Commission announced changes to the handling of notices issued during the ongoing SIR to people who are unmapped or whose records contain logical discrepancies.
Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will visit the homes of these notice recipients, collect their documents and upload them on ECINet for a decision by the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO).
People covered by this arrangement need not ordinarily be called to the ERO or Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO) office for a hearing. Hearings will be held only in exceptional circumstances determined by the ERO and should preferably take place online, the Commission said.
Where a hearing is required, an elector may authorise any adult member of the family to attend on their behalf. The Commission also directed that facilities for online hearings be strengthened.
The arrangement separates document collection from decision-making: BLOs will collect and upload the documents, while the ERO will decide the case.
District Election Officers (DEOs) have also been directed to create adequate help desks and organise special camps according to local requirements for people living in night shelters, workers, poor people, homeless persons and others needing assistance.
The Commission separately ordered an immediate special enrolment drive for people whose names were left out during SIR or subsequently, as well as young and first-time voters.
It said SIR had already been completed in 20 states and Union Territories, including Bihar and West Bengal. Anyone whose name had been left out during the exercise or thereafter could apply to the ERO concerned for inclusion through the continuous updating of electoral rolls, according to the statement.
Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) have been asked to facilitate these applications. CEOs, DEOs and EROs will immediately launch a special drive to enrol such electors, the Commission said.
As an example of assistance to left-out voters, the statement referred to Goa, where the CEO had directed BLOs to make house-to-house visits and collect forms. Of the 97 voters mentioned in the statement, 81 had already filled Form 6 for inclusion. This figure relates to forms submitted, rather than confirmation that all the applicants had been enrolled.
The Commission also clarified its position on the declaration attached to Form 6 during SIR. It said the declaration had been upheld by the Supreme Court. During non-SIR periods, the forms prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960 would be used, it added.
The Delhi extension was accompanied by a separate revision of deadlines in Maharashtra following a request from that state’s Chief Electoral Officer.
In Maharashtra, the deadline for filing claims and objections has been extended to October 12, 2026. The period for disposing of notices, claims and objections has been extended to November 10, 2026. These dates are distinct from the October 30 and November 30 deadlines announced for Delhi.
Another decision concerns an expert-assisted review of ECINet, the system on which BLOs will upload documents collected from SIR notice recipients.
A committee headed by a Senior Deputy Election Commissioner and including an independent expert from an IIT or IIIT will review ECINet to double-check its compliance with the relevant Acts and Rules. The committee will submit its findings to the Commission.
The Commission said field officers have role-based access to ECINet in accordance with their statutory powers. Several upgrades had already been made over the preceding months based on inputs from state CEOs, it said.
Any further flexibility required by field officers would be made operational. All new initiatives concerning IT modules and portals will henceforth be discussed by the Committee of Officers before being submitted for the Commission’s approval.
The statement also addressed a letter to the Cabinet Secretary and the allocation of responsibilities within the Commission’s IT division.
According to the Commission, the letter concerned the functioning of an officer on deputation to the Election Commission and did not relate to a policy matter of the Commission or its IT division.
It said work-redistribution orders issued by the officer concerned were not implemented following orders from the two Election Commissioners. Oversight of the IT division by the Deputy Election Commissioner was never withdrawn, the statement said.
The Commission reiterated that the decisions to undertake SIR had received unanimous approval.
It said the June 24, 2025 order for SIR across states and Union Territories, beginning with Bihar and followed by West Bengal and 30 other states and Union Territories, had been issued with unanimous approval. According to the Commission, the Supreme Court upheld the order on May 27, 2026.
The SIR schedule for 12 states and Union Territories, issued on October 27, 2025, and the schedule for 19 states and Union Territories, issued on May 14, 2026, had also received unanimous approval, it said.
The final number of electors would be known only after final publication of electoral rolls in the remaining 12 states covered by Phase III, the Commission stated.
The meeting also approved directions on the Commission’s internal administration. Agendas will be circulated in advance for all Commission meetings, and minutes will be issued.
Annual Performance Appraisal Reports of all officers must be completed within the stipulated deadline of December 31 every year. Officers’ foreign visits will require the Commission’s approval.
All directions issued by the Election Commissioners to officers of the Commission must be meticulously complied with, the statement said.
