Few exercises sound as bureaucratic as a "roll revision" — yet when the Election Commission of India ordered a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, it triggered one of the most closely watched constitutional battles of the year. Lakhs of names faced potential deletion for want of fresh documentary proof of citizenship and residence. Petitioners called it a threat to the franchise of the poor and the migrant; the Election Commission called it essential housekeeping for clean elections. The Supreme Court has now weighed in, and its answer says as much about the architecture of Indian democracy as about any single voter list.