Election Commission Announces Third Phase Of Electoral Roll Clean-Up Across 16 States And 3 UTs

The Election Commission has announced that the third phase of the Special Intensive Revision will cover 16 States and three Union Territories, taking the nationwide electoral roll clean-up close to completion. After this round, every region except Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh will have undergone the Special Intensive Revision process.

Launched in June last year with Bihar, the Special Intensive Revision is designed as a focused electoral roll purification drive. The Election Commission says the aim is to identify bogus, duplicate and ineligible entries, including deceased persons and "illegal immigrants", so that the final electoral rolls remain accurate and updated for nearly 99 crore voters.

Special Intensive Revision SIR electoral rolls third phase plan

The third phase will be taken up in Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, DNH & DD, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, NCT of Delhi, Odisha, Punjab, Sikkim, Tripura, Telangana and Uttarakhand. The Election Commission had deferred this rollout because Assembly elections in Kerala, Assam, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal were held in April.

Election Commission of India has directed the conduct of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in 16 States and 3 Union Territories (UTs) as per Annexure-I. pic.twitter.com/5ekmPOJhMo

— ANI (@ANI) May 14, 2026

During this phase, the Enumeration and house-to-house verification exercise will run between May 30 and October 14 across the identified States and Union Territories. The draft electoral rolls are scheduled for publication between July 5 and October 21, providing time for claims and objections before final lists are prepared.

Special Intensive Revision SIR electoral rolls field exercise

For the Enumeration Phase of the third stage, more than 3.94 lakh Booth Level Officers will conduct door-to-door visits and cover 36.73 crore electors. According to the commission, around 3.42 lakh Booth Level Agents nominated by political parties will support these Booth Level Officers at the polling station level.

The Election Commission describes the Special Intensive Revision as a participative process where electors, political parties and election officials are expected to work together. The poll body has urged all recognised parties to appoint Booth Level Agents for every booth, arguing that their presence helps transparency and encourages full participation in revising the electoral rolls.

Election Commission Special Intensive Revision SIR electoral rolls progress

In the first two phases, the Special Intensive Revision covered 13 States and Union Territories and reached nearly 59 crore electors as on the dates of the respective orders. Across those stages, more than 6.3 lakh Booth Level Officers and about 9.2 lakh Booth Level Agents were deployed at various points in the process.

So far, the Special Intensive Revision has already been carried out in 10 States and three Union Territories: Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Puducherry, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Goa and Bihar. A separate "special revision" of electoral rolls has been conducted in Assam by the Election Commission.

According to the poll panel, sixty crore of the nearly 99 crore eligible voters across India have now been covered through these clean-up drives. Once the third phase is completed in the newly notified regions, the exercise will leave only Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh to be taken up later, the Election Commission has indicated. (With agency inputs)