The Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Maharashtra, has launched an extensive voter registration and verification drive across the state, with a firm deadline of October 12 for citizens to submit claims, objections, and new registration requests. The initiative, conducted under the framework of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and in accordance with guidelines from the Election Commission of India (ECI), aims to ensure no eligible voter is excluded and no ineligible or duplicate entry survives the revised roll.

Registration Camps and Campus Outreach

Special voter registration camps are being conducted at all colleges and universities across Maharashtra from 5 October to 9 October 2026. Booth Level Officers (BLOs) have been deployed at campus sites to assist eligible students with application forms and to walk them through the SIR process.

Following university outreach, camps will shift to designated polling stations on 10 October and 11 October, catering to citizens who were unavailable during home visits. BLOs are also conducting door-to-door verification to identify residents missing from the Draft Electoral Roll and to collect Form 6 after in-person verification.

Who Can Apply and How

Citizens whose names appear on the published list of absent or migrated voters — compiled during house-to-house enumeration — can apply for re-enrolment or correction of details. The official list has been made available for public verification at ceoelection.maharashtra.gov.in.

Applications can be submitted through both offline and online channels. Physical forms can be hand-delivered to the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO), the Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO), local BLOs, or at designated polling station camps. Digitally, residents can register through the ECI portal at voters.eci.gov.in or via the official ECINET mobile application.

What Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis Said

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on 5 October publicly defended the ongoing SIR process, describing it as a constitutionally essential exercise. He cited rapid urbanisation, frequent migration, the addition of newly eligible youth, unrecorded deaths, and constituency transfers as factors that continuously alter voter demographics.

“Over the past 20 years alone, millions of names have been added and deleted. Periodic, in-depth verification is essential so that no eligible citizen is excluded, and no illegal or duplicate entry remains,” Fadnavis said.

The Chief Minister outlined the operational steps: door-to-door visits by enumerators, distribution and collection of official enumeration forms, record cleaning to remove deceased voters and eliminate duplicate registrations, and a public verification phase allowing citizens to check and correct their details.

Why the SIR Matters

Electoral roll accuracy is foundational to free and fair elections. The SIR process is a routine yet legally mandated revision mechanism — distinct from routine summary revisions — that rebuilds rolls from the ground up through field-level verification. This comes amid longstanding concerns in Maharashtra about the accuracy of voter databases in rapidly urbanising districts, where migration patterns make rolls particularly susceptible to bloat or gaps.

The CEO’s office has assured residents that all complete applications submitted with required supporting documents will be duly processed by Electoral Registration Officers for inclusion in the respective Assembly Constituency voter lists before the roll is finalised.

Key Deadline to Remember

The last date to submit any claim, objection, or new registration request is 12 October 2026. Citizens are urged to verify their names on the draft roll and act before the window closes, as late applications will not be considered for the current revision cycle.