Election Commission announces third SIR phase in 16 states, three Union Territories

The Election Commission on Thursday announced a special intensive revision of electoral rolls in 16 states and three Union Territories.

With this, the exercise will have covered voter lists in all states and Union Territories, except Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. The exercise in the state and the two Union Territories will be conducted later, the poll panel said, citing the ongoing Census and adverse weather.

There are currently 36.7 crore voters in the states and Union Territories covered in the third phase of the exercise. Nearly 59 crore electors have been covered in the first two phases.

During the first two phases, concerns were raised by opposition parties and activists that such a revision process could arbitrarily disenfranchise several voters.

In the first phase, the exercise took place in Bihar between July and September ahead of the Assembly elections in November. Forty-seven lakh voters in the state were excluded from the final electoral roll.

Twelve states and Union Territories, including West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, were covered in the second phase.

In West Bengal, about 91 lakh voters, nearly 11.9% of the electorate before the process began, had been removed as of April 6.

Ahead of the state polls, about 34 lakh appeals were reportedly pending before the tribunals. Of these, 27 lakh were filed by persons who were excluded. Appellate tribunals had allowed 1,607 names to be added back to the electoral rolls.

Scroll’s analysis of the poll results found that in half the seats that the Bharatiya Janata Party won in West Bengal, the total deletions that took place during the voter list revision exercise outnumbered the victory margin.

Third phase of SIR

In the third phase, the qualifying date for Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Haryana, Odisha, Manipur, Mizoram, Sikkim and Uttarakhand will be July 1, 2026.

The survey will take place between June and July, before a draft voter list is published in July. Voters will be able to file their claims and objections against exclusions from the draft list in August. The final list in these states will be published in September.

In Delhi, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Punjab and Telangana, the qualifying date will be October 1.

The survey takes place between June and July. The draft lists for Punjab and Telangana will be published in July, and objections can be filed in July and August. The final roll will be published in October.

In the other states, the draft list will be in August, followed by the objections period in August and September. The final list in these states will be published in October.

In Nagaland, the survey will take place between August and September, and the draft voter list will be published in September. Voters will be able to file their claims and objections in September and October before the final roll is published in November.

In Tripura, the survey will take place in September and October, with the draft roll being published in October. After voters file their claims and objections in October, the final list will be published in December.

The qualifying date in both states is October 1.

Among the states in the third phase, Assembly elections in Manipur, Punjab and Uttarakhand will be held in early 2027.

Written by Nachiket Deuskar. Edited by Neerad Pandharipande.