SIR Review: CEO Directs Officials to List Family Members at Same Polling Station
Ranchi, August 27, 2026: Jharkhand Chief Electoral Officer K. Ravi Kumar reviewed the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls with District Election Officers across the state through a video conference on Thursday.
During the meeting, he directed officials to ensure that, during the ‘Home-to-Roll’ verification, all eligible voters belonging to the same family are listed at the same polling station, wherever possible.
He instructed Booth Level Officers (BLOs) to conduct door-to-door verification and ensure that no eligible Indian citizen is left out of the electoral roll. Eligible citizens whose names are not yet included should be registered through Form-6 and the prescribed declaration. If members of the same family are registered at different polling stations, necessary action should be taken through Form-8 to shift them to the nearest common polling station.
Special Drive for Young Voters
K. Ravi Kumar directed officials to launch special awareness campaigns in schools and colleges to enroll newly eligible and young Indian citizens as voters. Students should be encouraged to register through ECINET and be informed about the importance of electoral registration and the process of filling Form-6.
He also stressed that electoral rolls and related records prepared during the SIR are important long-term documents. Citizens should therefore be encouraged to verify their names, age and other details and get any errors corrected through the prescribed procedure.
Hearings to Be Held at Nearby Centres
The Chief Electoral Officer directed that hearings for voters who have received notices from the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) should, as far as possible, be conducted at hearing centres close to their residences.
Special priority should be given to senior citizens, persons with disabilities, pregnant women and people living in remote and rural areas, so that they do not have to travel long distances unnecessarily. Voters should also be informed in advance about the hearing centre, date and time.
For cases involving ‘No Map’ and logical discrepancies, officials were instructed to carefully examine all available documents. Where voters require additional time to submit documents during the first hearing, they should be given a sufficient opportunity and the matter may be rescheduled for a second hearing.
Ensure No Eligible Citizen Is Left Out
The CEO directed officials to pay special attention to remote, difficult-to-reach and tribal-dominated areas to ensure that no eligible Adivasi or Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) citizen is excluded from the electoral roll.
He also instructed BLOs to record the house number of every household during door-to-door visits. Where a house does not have a number, a notional house number should be assigned to ensure proper identification of voters belonging to the same household.
Officials were further directed to promptly address complaints and requests for assistance received through the 1950 toll-free helpline, Book a Call, email and other channels.
K. Ravi Kumar said that a clean and authentic electoral roll would serve as an important documentary reference for citizens in the future. He directed all EROs, AEROs, BLO Supervisors and BLOs to work in coordination to ensure that no eligible Indian citizen is left out and no ineligible or foreign person is included in the electoral roll.
