The Election Commission of India (ECI) has officially directed Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) across 17 states and 5 Union Territories to begin groundwork for the third phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). In a letter issued by ECI Secretary Pawan Diwan, the commission indicated that the next massive door-to-door verification exercise is slated to commence in April 2026.
This third phase is designed to cover the “forgotten” regions of the country—those areas that were excluded from the initial SIR rounds or did not undergo the intensive, Assam-style special revisions in 2025. The move comes as the ECI attempts to standardize the national voter database ahead of major state and local elections.
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Phase 3 Mobilization: 22 States and UTs on Alert
The ECI’s latest order (letter no. 23/2025-ERS Vol.ll) serves as a “pre-revision” call to action. While 12 states are currently embroiled in Phase 2, the remaining 22 administrative units must now initiate preparatory activities. These include the identification of ghost voters, rationalization of polling booths, and the recruitment of additional personnel to avoid the staff shortages that plagued earlier phases.
The Phase 2 Bottleneck: Why the Timelines Slipped
The transition to Phase 3 is complicated by the ongoing delays in Phase 2. Originally scheduled to conclude by February 7, the exercise has gone off-schedule in several high-population states.
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Reason for Delay: Heavy reliance on the new digital enumeration portal (voters.eci.gov.in) led to server bottlenecks during peak hours.
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Staff Burnout: As previously noted, the Supreme Court had to intervene to order additional staff deployment after Booth Level Officers (BLOs) reported working 14-hour days to meet the digital targets.
Consequently, the publication of the final electoral rolls for Phase 2 has been shifted to February 14, 2026, leaving little time for officials to reset before the April kickoff of Phase 3.
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High-Tech Enumeration: Aadhaar and e-Sign
A hallmark of the 2025–26 SIR is the shift toward mandatory digital verification. Voters in the upcoming April phase will be required to link their mobile numbers to their EPIC (Voter ID) and utilize Aadhaar-based e-signs to confirm their residency. This digitization is intended to eliminate “duplicate and dead” entries that have historically inflated voter lists. However, the requirement for a mobile-linked Aadhaar has raised concerns regarding the exclusion of elderly voters and those in rural areas with poor connectivity—a challenge the ECI hopes to address by deploying more mobile-equipped BLOs in Phase 3.
Reality Check
The ECI aims for a “clean” roll by April. Still, the Aadhaar-based e-sign requirement remains a point of legal and social friction. Therefore, while the commission claims the process is “seamless,” the reality on the ground often involves voters struggling with OTP (One-Time Password) delays and mismatched biometric data. In fact, if the digital infrastructure isn’t significantly upgraded by April, Phase 3 could face the same “server crashes” that delayed Phase 2.
The Loopholes
The SIR excludes Bihar for now, citing separate administrative cycles. In fact, this “geographical loophole” allows for significant voter migration to go unmapped across the Bihar border into neighboring states undergoing the revision. Therefore, a voter could technically remain on a “clean” list in a Phase 3 state while still appearing on the old list in Bihar. Still, the ECI’s push for National Voter Identity synchronization is a major step toward closing the “dual registration” loophole used for fraudulent voting.
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What This Means for You
If you live in one of the 22 states/UTs scheduled for the April phase, realize that a BLO will likely visit your residence within the next 60 days. First, ensure your mobile number is linked to your Aadhaar; without this, you cannot use the e-sign facility on the Voters’ Service Portal. Then, keep your EPIC card handy for physical verification.
Finally, understand that if you have recently moved, the SIR is your primary chance to update your address without a lengthy bureaucratic process. You should check the voters.eci.gov.in portal starting in late March to see if your area has been officially listed for the April rollout. Before the door-to-door survey begins, verify that your name is at least on the “draft roll” to avoid being marked as a “ghost voter.”
What’s Next
The final voters’ list for Phase 2 will be published on February 14, 2026. Then, training for BLOs in the 22 Phase 3 states will begin in mid-March. Finally, the Special Intensive Revision Phase 3 will officially launch in the first week of April, with a goal of finalizing the national electoral roll by June 2026.
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