EC extends roll revision deadline for 5 states, 1 UT

Days after the Election Commission (EC) extended the deadline for the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Kerala by one week following a Supreme Court directive, the panel on Thursday announced a revised schedule for five states and the union territory of Andaman & Nicobar, based on requests from their chief electoral officers (CEOs).

The five states where the SIR timelines have been relaxed are poll-bound Tamil Nadu, as well as Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh.

These states were earlier required to complete the extensive exercise by December 16 with the publication of their draft electoral rolls, while the enumeration process was scheduled to end on December 11.

According to the latest EC notification, enumeration will now conclude on December 14 in Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, giving these states a three-day extension. Their draft rolls will now be published on December 19.

In Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Andaman & Nicobar, the enumeration period has been extended till December 18, a week beyond the previous deadline, with the draft electoral rolls to be released on December 23.

In Uttar Pradesh, the enumeration phase has been extended by 15 days. BLOs in the state now have until December 26 to finish the task, while the draft electoral rolls of the most-populous state will be published on December 31. This means UP is expected to be ready with its draft rolls just one day before the “qualifying date” of January 1, 2026.

In Goa, Puducherry, Lakshadweep, Rajasthan and West Bengal, enumeration ends today, December 11, in line with the relaxed deadlines announced by the EC on November 30. The draft rolls for these states and union territories are still expected to be published by December 16.

For Kerala, the enumeration of voters will be completed by December 18 and the draft rolls published on December 23, the EC said.

The relaxation, the commission noted, was necessitated by the scale of the exercise and feedback from field enumerators. The decision also comes amid reports of several BLO deaths, allegedly due to work pressure and the stressful timelines earlier set by the poll body.