Election Commission begins third phase of SIR across 16 states, 3 UTs

THe Election charge of bharat (ECI) on th directed the chief electoral officers of 16 states and 3 unification Territories to commence the thirdly phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, a controversial exercise that will cover 367 million people between the end of May and the beginning of December as part of a staggered schedule.Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh were kept out of the current phase due to ongoing census operations and weather conditions in snow-bound areas, as per the official order issued by the ECI.First launched in Bihar late last year, SIR triggered a major electoral and legal controversy, especially after it led to the disenfranchisement of 2.71 million people in West Bengal during assembly polls last month.“I appeal to all electors to enthusiastically participate in the Phase III of Special Intensive Revision and fill their Enumeration Forms. SIR is being conducted with the objective to ensure that only eligible voters are included in the electoral roll and no ineligible names are included,” said chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.Also Read: Why Election Commission left out J&K, Ladakh and Himachal from SIR rolloutDelhi is among the regions where SIR will be conducted.In the Capital, the exercise will start on June 30, the draft roll released on August 5, and the final roll on October 7.Delhi currently has 14.8 million people on its voter rolls. Among the five regions that are scheduled to go to the polls in early 2027,Uttar Pradesh has completed the process and deleted 20.5 million names. Punjab, which has 21.4 million voters, will see the draft roll published on July 31 and final roll on October 1. Uttarakhand, with 7.97 million voters, will have its draft roll on July 14 and final roll on September 15. Manipur, with 2.09 million voters, will have its draft roll on July 5 and final roll on September 6. Goa completed the SIR process in an earlier phase.The ECI order stated that the schedule for SIR Phase III has been fixed keeping in view the common field machinery with the ongoing house listing of census.The SIR schedule for Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh will be announced separately after the completion of Phase II of the census in these three states and UTs, with weather conditions in upper reaches and snow-bound areas also factored into the decision. Over 394,000 Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will conduct house-to-house visits for 367.3 million electors across 19 states and UTs.They will be assisted by 342,000 Booth Level Agents (BLAs) appointed by political parties during the enumeration phase.ECI has requested all political parties to appoint BLAs for each polling booth to ensure complete transparency in the SIR process.Maharashtra leads in BLO deployment with 97,924 officers covering 98.6 million electors, followed by Karnataka with 59,050 BLOs covering 55.5 million electors. For Phase III, no BLAs have been appointed in Meghalaya.