UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — EC switches to damage control mode after facing flak over SIR
Q1. When the Supreme Court upheld the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in 2026, it located the Election Commission's power to conduct the exercise in which one of the following?
- A. Article 324 alone, since the Representation of the People Act, 1950 contains no provision for any special revision
- B. Article 326 alone, as it wholly and exclusively governs every aspect of the preparation of electoral rolls
- C. Article 324 of the Constitution read with Section 21(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950
- D. Section 21(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 exclusively, as Article 324 covers only the conduct of polls
Q2. Consider the following provisions and the subject matter attributed to each:
1. Article 325 of the Constitution — no person to be ineligible for inclusion in a general electoral roll on grounds only of religion, race, caste or sex
2. Article 326 of the Constitution — elections to the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies on the basis of adult suffrage, 18 years being the age of eligibility
3. Section 16 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 — disqualification from registration of a person who is not a citizen of India
4. Section 17 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 — bar on a person being registered more than once in the same constituency
Which of the above is/are correctly identified?
- Article 325 of the Constitution — no person to be ineligible for inclusion in a general electoral roll on grounds only of religion, race, caste or sex
- Article 326 of the Constitution — elections to the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies on the basis of adult suffrage, 18 years being the age of eligibility
- Section 16 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 — disqualification from registration of a person who is not a citizen of India
- Section 17 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 — bar on a person being registered more than once in the same constituency
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 1, 2 and 3 only
- C. 2, 3 and 4 only
- D. 1, 2, 3 and 4
Q3. An application in Form 6 for inclusion of a name in the electoral roll of an Assembly segment is decided upon by which one of the following functionaries?
- A. The Chief Electoral Officer of the State
- B. The Electoral Registration Officer
- C. The District Election Officer
- D. The Booth Level Officer of the polling area
Q4. An elector wants to do the following: shift their entry after a change of residence, correct an entry in the roll, get a replacement EPIC, be marked as a person with disability, and seek deletion of a deceased family member's name. For how many of these five purposes is Form 8 the prescribed application?
- A. Only two
- B. Only three
- C. Only four
- D. All five
Q5. Under the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023, the body that recommends names to the President for appointment is headed by:
- A. The Chief Justice of India
- B. The Speaker of the Lok Sabha
- C. The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha
- D. The Prime Minister
Q6. Under the constitutional scheme retained by the 2023 Act on the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners, an Election Commissioner other than the Chief Election Commissioner can be removed from office:
- A. in like manner and on like grounds as a Judge of the Supreme Court
- B. by the President on the advice of the Selection Committee chaired by the Prime Minister
- C. only on the recommendation of the Chief Election Commissioner
- D. only on the recommendation of the Chief Justice of India after an inquiry
Q7. Consider the following statements comparing the corrective measures the Election Commission of India announced in September 2026 on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) with the procedure followed until then:
1. Electors issued notices for being 'unmapped' or for logical discrepancies will no longer be called to the ERO/AERO office for a hearing; instead, BLOs will collect their documents at home and upload them on ECINet for the ERO's decision.
2. The declaration earlier required with Form 6 from new electors has been withdrawn altogether, after the Supreme Court struck it down.
3. Persons left out during the SIR, including first-time voters, can apply to the ERO through continuous updation, and CEOs, DEOs and EROs have been directed to run a special enrolment drive for them.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- Electors issued notices for being 'unmapped' or for logical discrepancies will no longer be called to the ERO/AERO office for a hearing; instead, BLOs will collect their documents at home and upload them on ECINet for the ERO's decision.
- The declaration earlier required with Form 6 from new electors has been withdrawn altogether, after the Supreme Court struck it down.
- Persons left out during the SIR, including first-time voters, can apply to the ERO through continuous updation, and CEOs, DEOs and EROs have been directed to run a special enrolment drive for them.
- A. 1 only
- B. 1 and 3 only
- C. 2 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q8. In the context of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, an 'unmapped' elector refers to a person:
- A. whose name has been permanently deleted from the roll for failing to prove citizenship before the ERO
- B. who has never been enrolled in any electoral roll anywhere in India and applies afresh in Form 6
- C. who has necessarily been declared a foreign national by a competent tribunal during the revision
- D. whose current roll entry could not be linked, directly or through a relative, to the roll of the last intensive revision
Q9. Consider the following statements about the Supreme Court's scrutiny of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar (2025):
1. After the Court's direction, the ECI told its Bihar poll machinery to accept Aadhaar as a 12th document, in addition to the 11 documents it had listed.
2. Persons excluded from the Bihar draft roll were barred from using Aadhaar in claims for re-inclusion.
3. The ECI's directive of June 24 required electors not listed in the 2003 electoral roll to submit documents.
4. The Court held that an Aadhaar card, once furnished, is final proof of citizenship and needs no independent verification.
Which of the statements given above is/are NOT correct?
- After the Court's direction, the ECI told its Bihar poll machinery to accept Aadhaar as a 12th document, in addition to the 11 documents it had listed.
- Persons excluded from the Bihar draft roll were barred from using Aadhaar in claims for re-inclusion.
- The ECI's directive of June 24 required electors not listed in the 2003 electoral roll to submit documents.
- The Court held that an Aadhaar card, once furnished, is final proof of citizenship and needs no independent verification.
- A. 2 only
- B. 2 and 4
- C. 1, 3 and 4
- D. 4 only
Q10. In its 2026 ruling on the SIR, the Supreme Court described the Election Commission's scrutiny of citizenship as 'limited'. According to the Court, the final determination of a person's citizenship rests with:
- A. the Electoral Registration Officer, under the Representation of the People Act, 1950
- B. the Election Commission of India, under Article 324 of the Constitution
- C. the competent authorities under the Citizenship Act, 1955
- D. the Chief Electoral Officer, under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960
Q11. Revision of the electoral roll of a constituency before every general election is made mandatory by which one of the following?
- A. Section 21(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 read with Rule 25 of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960
- B. Section 21(2)(a) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 read with Rule 25 of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960
- C. Section 21(2)(a) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 read with Rule 25 of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961
- D. Article 324(1) of the Constitution read with Rule 25 of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960 alone
Q12. Which one of the following best describes the Aadhaar provision that the Election Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021 inserted into the electoral registration law?
- A. The ERO may require the Aadhaar number to establish the citizenship of a prospective elector; inability to furnish it bars enrolment
- B. The ERO must require the Aadhaar number from every elector, and entries not linked by a notified date stand deleted from the roll
- C. The ERO may require the Aadhaar number to establish identity; nobody is denied inclusion or deleted for not furnishing it for sufficient cause
- D. The ERO may require the Aadhaar number to establish identity; an elector unable to furnish it for any reason is deleted after a hearing