SIR 2026: New Notification Cancels Hearing! Big Relief For Voters Election Commissions
SIR 2026: The second phase of the SIR (Special Summary Revision) 2026 process is currently underway across India in 2025. Following the completion of the first phase in Bihar, the process has now commenced in West Bengal. However, due to an initial lack of proper planning by the Election Commission, general voters faced severe harassment. Realizing their mistake, the Commission has finally issued a new notification, bringing relief to lakhs of voters.
What Caused the Confusion?
The root cause of the problem lies in the massive mismatch of data concerning the 2002 voter list. While converting data from the 2002 hard copy (PDF) voter lists to soft copies on the website, the Election Commission encountered technical glitches. This resulted in significant discrepancies in the online records.
The major issues faced by the public included:
- Many voters’ names could not be found online or on the BLO App.
- Spelling of names became completely scrambled or incorrect.
- Common people failed to perform the necessary Mapping or Self-Mapping.
- Panic ensued among voters as their names were missing online despite being present in the hard copy lists.
Election Commission’s New Decision
To alleviate the suffering of voters, the Election Commission has issued an important notification comprising the following directives:
- Cancellation of Hearings: For voters whose names appear as ‘Unmapped’ in the BLO App but exist in the 2002 hard copy list, no hearing will be conducted.
- Withdrawal of Notices: If a hearing notice has already been generated for any voter due to these errors, it must be cancelled immediately. Such notices are not to be sent to the voters.
- Use of Extract Copies: DEOs have been instructed to use the extract copies of the 2002 voter list to verify records.
Instructions for Officials
The Election Commission has provided specific instructions to BLOs and DEOs to resolve this issue swiftly:
| Official | Assigned Duty |
|---|---|
| DEO (District Election Officer) | Will verify information using the extract copy of the 2002 voter list. |
| BLO (Booth Level Officer) | Will conduct field visits to voters’ homes to collect their photos and necessary documents, and upload them to the portal. |
This decision by the Election Commission has finally brought relief to lakhs of voters who were running from pillar to post to rectify their documents. However, critics argue that if this decision had been taken during the initial enumeration phase, the general public would not have had to face such extreme harassment. The stalemate was caused by the Commission’s lack of foresight and failure to learn from previous SIR processes, but this late step will nonetheless provide much-needed respite to the voters.
