Guwahati, November 18, 2025 – The Election Commission of India (ECI) has ordered a ‘Special Revision’ (SR) of electoral rolls in Assam, setting the stage for the upcoming Assembly elections in 2026. This directive comes after Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar assured a bespoke order for Assam in October, as the state was excluded from the nationwide Special Intensive Revision (SIR) due to ongoing issues with the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma welcomed the EC's decision, assuring full cooperation from the state government to complete the revision in a transparent and timely manner. He emphasized the importance of ensuring clean, updated, and accurate electoral rolls for all eligible citizens.
The Special Revision, with January 1, 2026, as the qualifying date, is designed to update the voter list ahead of the polls. The final electoral roll is scheduled for publication on February 10, 2026. This SR falls between the annual Special Summary Revision and the SIR.
Unlike the SIR, which requires all registered electors to submit enumeration forms, the Special Revision in Assam will involve Booth Level Officers (BLOs) conducting house-to-house verification. Instead of distributing fresh enumeration forms, BLOs will verify against pre-filled registers, streamlining the process and ensuring efficiency in detecting discrepancies. This approach aims to identify deceased voters and shifted electors, ensuring accuracy without overburdening the process. Electors in Assam will not be required to fill out any forms. The BLOs will note any required corrections to house numbers, elector names, EPIC numbers, addresses, and other relevant details. Door-to-door verification is scheduled to take place from November 22 to December 20, with the integrated draft electoral roll to be published on December 27.
CM Sarma stated that the SIR requires NRC data to establish citizenship, which is currently pending notification in Assam. He indicated that the SIR will be carried out next year once the NRC is officially notified. The 2019 NRC list in Assam excluded approximately 1.96 million people from the list of 33 million applicants, but a final notification is still pending. The Assam government has challenged the NRC in its current form in the Supreme Court.
The EC had previously ordered SIR for 12 other states and Union Territories. The first phase of SIR was conducted in Bihar, leading to the removal of nearly 6.9 million names from the voter lists. The ongoing SIR in other states has faced opposition, with some likening it to conducting a citizenship check or NRC through the backdoor.
