The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced the rollout of Phase III of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls across 16 states and three Union Territories, expanding the massive voter verification exercise to almost the entire country except Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, and Himachal Pradesh.
According to the Election Commission, the Phase III schedule has been prepared in coordination with the ongoing Census house-listing operations and will involve large-scale verification of voter records to ensure only eligible voters remain on electoral rolls.
The poll body said the exercise will cover Odisha, Mizoram, Sikkim, Manipur, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Haryana, Chandigarh, Telangana, Punjab, Karnataka, Meghalaya, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Delhi, Nagaland, and Tripura.
The Election Commission clarified that Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, and Himachal Pradesh have been temporarily excluded because of logistical and weather-related concerns, especially in snow-bound and mountainous regions. Officials said the schedule for these regions would be announced later after considering the completion of Phase II of the Census and weather conditions in upper Himalayan areas.
As part of the nationwide revision process, more than 3.94 lakh Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will conduct house-to-house verification of approximately 36.73 crore electors during the enumeration phase. The BLOs will also be assisted by around 3.42 lakh Booth Level Agents (BLAs) appointed by political parties.
Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar appealed to citizens to actively participate in the process and submit enumeration forms during the verification drive. The Election Commission described the SIR exercise as a “participative process” aimed at improving transparency and accuracy in electoral rolls.
The SIR exercise has already become politically sensitive in several states after earlier phases reportedly led to large-scale voter deletions from electoral rolls. Opposition parties in states like West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh had previously raised concerns over the removal of voters during the revision process.
The Election Commission, however, has defended the exercise, stating that the revision aims to remove duplicate, shifted, deceased, and ineligible voters while ensuring genuine eligible citizens remain enrolled.
