ECI Launches SIR Phase III Electoral Roll Revision; Six Northeast States Among First Wave

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on 14 May 2026 directed the conduct of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) Phase III of electoral rolls across 16 States and 3 Union Territories (UTs). The Phase III schedule has been drawn up in alignment with the ongoing house listing phase of the national Census, ensuring coordinated use of common field machinery. With Phase III, the SIR of electoral rolls will extend to the entire country — barring Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, and Ladakh, where the SIR schedule will be announced separately after the completion of Census Phase II and due consideration of weather conditions in the snow-bound upper reaches.

In the first two phases of SIR, 13 States and UTs covering nearly 59 crore electors were covered, with over 6.3 lakh Booth Level Officers (BLOs) and 9.2 lakh Booth Level Agents (BLAs) deployed by political parties. Phase III significantly expands this outreach: over 3.94 lakh BLOs will conduct house-to-house visits covering 36.73 crore electors, supported by 3.42 lakh BLAs appointed by political parties during the Enumeration Phase.

Six of the eight Northeast states figure prominently in SIR Phase III, with four — Mizoram, Manipur, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh — scheduled among the earliest batches to begin the electoral roll revision process. Mizoram and Manipur, alongside Odisha and Sikkim, have a qualifying date of 1 July 2026, with BLO house-to-house visits in Mizoram and Manipur commencing from 30 May 2026. Arunachal Pradesh shares a qualifying date of 1 July 2026, with BLO field visits beginning 15 June 2026.

Meghalaya and Jharkhand are grouped in a later batch with a qualifying date of 1 October 2026, with BLO visits scheduled from 30 June 2026. Nagaland follows a separate and later timeline, with BLO visits commencing 16 August 2026 and final electoral rolls to be published on 22 November 2026. Tripura has been placed in the last scheduled batch, with BLO visits beginning 15 September 2026 and final roll publication expected on 23 December 2026.

Northeast States — SIR Phase III At a Glance (as on 12 May 2026)

Note: Meghalaya currently has zero BLAs registered; political parties are urged to appoint BLAs to ensure full electoral participation.

The Election Commission of India has emphasised that SIR is a participatory exercise involving electors, political parties, and election officials working in concert. The ECI has specifically requested all political parties to appoint Booth Level Agents (BLAs) for each Polling Booth in the states and UTs covered under Phase III. This is to ensure that the revision process is conducted with complete transparency and with maximum stakeholder participation. Notably, Meghalaya currently has no BLAs registered, making it critical for parties active in the state to step up and appoint their representatives before BLO field visits begin.

The Special Intensive Revision process is a structured, multi-stage exercise covering preparation and training, house-to-house BLO visits, rationalisation of polling stations, publication of draft electoral rolls, filing of claims and objections, disposal of objections, and final publication of the updated electoral rolls — ensuring that voter lists across all participating states and UTs are accurate, inclusive, and up to date ahead of future elections.