UN Special Rapporteurs raise concerns over SIR and use of AI-driven models for exclusion of minorities

Three United Nations Special Rapporteurs have raised concerns about the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) by the Election Commission of India (ECI) over the mass deletion of Muslim voters. The Rapporteurs drew the attention of the Government of India to what they called: “The large-scale removal of millions of names from electoral rolls through an SIR process led by the ECI, particularly affecting members of minority groups.”

Written on May 1, 2026, the report gives a 60-day timeline for the Indian government to respond to the concerns raised by the Special Rapporteur on minority issues, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression and Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief.

A similar communication was sent by the UN Special Rapporteurs in December 2018 when the National Register of Citizens (NRC) was being compiled and updated in Assam. At that time also, the officials questioned the role of the ECI in the exclusion of ethnic, religious, and linguistic minorities from the contentious NRC.

The report flags multiple issues with SIR including alleged use of opaque AI-driven systems, weak grounds of deletion of names such as spellings, inadequate time to voters to get documents in order, lack of remedies and a political narrative aimed at exclusion of minorities.

The allegations in the report include the narrative before the rollout of SIR: “Senior government officials, including the Union Home Minister, have reportedly publicly framed the deletion of voter names as targeting “illegal Bangladeshi immigrants” – rhetoric that conflates legitimate Indian Muslim citizens with foreign nationals.”

The report singles out the impact of SIR in West Bengal where it notes its impact on the constituency of Nandigram. “Muslim voters were reportedly disproportionately impacted by the SIR process. In one constituency, namely Nandigram, allegedly 95% of the deleted voters were Muslims, even though Muslims only make up 25% of the constituency’s electorate,” notes the report. 

The alleged targeted deletions have been labelled as “serious violations of multiple human rights obligations”.

India is a signatory to multiple treaties including the 1992 Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities and the 1979 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The letter cites potential violations of ICCPR Articles on non-discrimination and the right to vote and the Article on minority rights. 

The communication poses seven questions to the Indian government, including requests for disaggregated data on the religion and ethnicity of excluded voters, details of the appeals process, and information on remedies available to those wrongfully removed.

Under UN procedure, the communication and the Indian government response will be made public on the Special Procedures communications reporting website 60 days after it was sent, or sooner if India replies within that window.