New Delhi, Nov 17 (IANS) The Election Commission of India (ECI) said on Monday that Assam will undergo a special revision of its electoral rolls, an exercise that will culminate in the publication of the final voters’ list on February 10, 2026.

The decision comes at a time when the state is heading toward the 2026 Assembly elections and the accuracy of the electoral roll remains central to political discourse in Assam.

According to officials, the process ordered for Assam is neither a routine annual summary revision nor as exhaustive as the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) conducted recently in several other states.

It sits “somewhere in between”, with the Election Commission opting for a more targeted and improved verification mechanism.

Instead of using blank enumeration forms, booth-level officers will work with pre-filled registers to confirm, correct or update voter details, which the Commission believes will reduce errors and speed up verification.

Last month, the Commission had ordered SIR for states such as Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal and others –several of which also face elections in 2026.

Assam was not part of that list, but the newly announced Special Revision is being viewed as a separate and more contextualised exercise aimed specifically at improving the quality of the state’s electoral rolls.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma welcomed the announcement and said the Assam government would extend complete cooperation to the Election Commission.

In a post on X, he said the decision, with January 1, 2026 as the qualifying date, would help ensure clean and updated electoral rolls.

As per the schedule issued to the Assam Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Anurag Goel, door-to-door verification will take place from November 22 to December 20 this year.

The draft integrated electoral roll will be published on December 27, while the final list will be announced on February 10, 2026.

During this period, the mandate for officials is to ensure that every person who meets the eligibility criteria — being an Indian citizen, at least 18 years old by the qualifying date, ordinarily residing in the constituency, and not disqualified — is included, and that no ineligible or duplicate entry remains.

The CEO’s responsibilities include keeping families listed together, reorganising sections and parts where required, ensuring polling stations are accessible at ground level, removing entries of deceased or shifted voters, verifying polling stations with political parties, and uploading photographs that meet Election Commission standards.

Booth-level officers will collect information on multiple entries, corrections, relocated electors and new voters who will turn 18 years by January 1, 2026.

Officials will also examine whether new polling stations are needed, as no existing station should have more than 1,200 electors unless special permission is granted.

Aadhaar numbers may be submitted voluntarily in new applications or corrections, but the Commission has clarified that no person’s name can be rejected or deleted for failing to provide Aadhaar card.

Political parties are to be engaged early in the process, and the final publication of the electoral roll will require prior written approval from the Commission.

The Special Revision is expected to play a crucial role in shaping Assam’s electoral landscape ahead of 2026, given the long-running sensitivities around citizenship and voter rolls in the state.

–IANS

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