Massive Voter Verification Drive to Begin Across 16 States and 3 UTs

The Election Commission of India on Thursday announced the launch of Phase 3 of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in 16 states and three Union Territories, covering approximately 36.73 crore voters.

The revision exercise will be conducted in phases beginning May 30 in Delhi, Odisha, Mizoram, Sikkim, Manipur, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Haryana, Chandigarh, Telangana, Punjab, Karnataka, Meghalaya, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Nagaland, Tripura and the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.

According to the commission, more than 3.94 lakh Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will conduct door-to-door verification of electors during the revision process. They will be assisted by around 3.42 lakh Booth Level Agents (BLAs) appointed by political parties during the enumeration phase.

The Election Commission stated that the schedule for Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh will be announced later due to weather conditions in snow-bound regions. Once the third phase is completed, the SIR exercise will have covered almost the entire country.

The revision schedule has been aligned with the ongoing Census-related house listing exercise to ensure coordination of field machinery and administrative resources.

The final electoral rolls for different states and Union Territories will be published on varying dates. Odisha, Sikkim, Mizoram, and Manipur will receive their final electoral rolls on September 6, while the revised rolls for Delhi, Karnataka, Meghalaya, Maharashtra, and Jharkhand are scheduled to be released on October 7. The process will conclude with Tripura’s final roll publication on December 23.

The Election Commission noted that SIR exercises have already been completed in states including Bihar, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Goa, and Union Territories such as Puducherry, Lakshadweep, and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Assam underwent a separate special revision process.

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar appealed to voters to actively participate in the process by filling enumeration forms. He said the objective of the SIR exercise is to ensure that only eligible voters remain on electoral rolls while ineligible entries are removed.

The Election Commission also highlighted that Phase 2 of the SIR exercise led to a 10.2 percent reduction in electoral rolls across nine states and three Union Territories. More than 60 lakh deceased voters were removed during that phase, reducing the voter count from over 50.99 crore to 45.81 crore.