SHILLONG, May 15: With more than 68 per cent of Meghalaya’s voters already mapped with the 2005 electoral roll, the Election Department has stepped up preparations for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise that will begin across the state from June 20.
Chief Electoral Officer B.D.R. Tiwari on Friday said around 16.14 lakh electors out of the state’s 23.44 lakh voters have already been mapped with records from the 2005 electoral roll as part of the preparatory exercise.
The draft electoral roll will be published on August 5, followed by the filing of claims and objections till September 4. Disposal of claims and objections will continue till October 3 before publication of the final electoral roll on October 7.
The CEO said electors will fall under different categories for submission of documents during the revision process.
Voters whose names are already present in the 2005 electoral roll will only need to submit the relevant extract of that voter list along with the enumeration form.
Electors born before July 1, 1987 whose names are not found in the 2005 roll will have to submit one self-attested document from the list approved by the EC.
Those born between July 1, 1987 and December 2, 2004, whose parents’ names are absent from the 2005 voter list, will have to furnish their own document along with documents of either their mother or father.
Electors born after December 2004 and whose parents’ names are not in the 2005 roll will be required to submit their own document along with documents of both parents.
Tiwari clarified that birth certificates are not mandatory and voters can produce alternative documents such as SC, ST or OBC certificates, passports, ration cards and other approved documents listed by the EC.
Tiwari further informed that a meeting was held on Friday with representatives of various political parties to brief them on the upcoming SIR.
The CEO said political parties were informed in detail about the schedule and procedures of the revision exercise. He stated that queries and concerns raised by the parties were addressed during the discussion.
He said the Election Department requested all political parties to appoint booth-level agents, describing them as important stakeholders at the grassroots level who would work alongside Booth Level Officers (BLOs) in every polling station area.
According to the CEO, the involvement of booth-level agents would help maintain transparency throughout the revision process.
Meghalaya has been included in the third phase of the Election Commission of India’s SIR programme, with October 1, 2026 fixed as the qualifying date for the revision.
Training of officials and printing of enumeration forms will be carried out from June 20 to June 29, while Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will conduct house-to-house visits from June 30 to July 29. Rationalisation of polling stations will also be completed during the period.
