SHILLONG – More than six lakh notices, over two lakh hearings and 384 voters already found ineligible have pushed Meghalaya’s electoral revision into its most consequential phase, with the Election Commission now extending the process until October 21.
Chief Electoral Officer B.D.R. Tiwari said on Tuesday that 2,08,870 hearings have been completed out of 6,51,735 notices generated under the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR), covering 32.05 per cent of the cases requiring scrutiny.
The State has 21,69,243 electors in its draft electoral roll. Of the notices generated, 6,20,730 have been delivered and updated in the system, while 31,005 remain pending for delivery. The notices include around 2.22 lakh electors in the no-mapping category and 4,28,949 cases involving mapping discrepancies.
The first hard result of that scrutiny has already emerged. At least 384 electors have been found ineligible after the prescribed verification and hearing process, although Tiwari stressed that receiving a notice itself does not mean an elector’s name will be deleted.
A notice, he said, gives the elector an opportunity to explain the issue and submit supporting documents. No name in the draft roll will be deleted without due process and a fair and reasonable opportunity of hearing.
The Election Commission has meanwhile pushed Meghalaya’s entire SIR timetable back by 14 days after disruption in Shillong and other parts of the State affected the claims, objections and hearing process last month. The deadline for filing claims and objections has moved from September 4 to September 18. Disposal of claims and objections and completion of hearings will continue until October 17, while publication of the final electoral roll has been shifted from October 7 to October 21.
The extension comes as the election machinery still has a substantial volume of cases to process. With 2,08,870 hearings completed against 6,51,735 notices, more than four lakh notified cases remain outside the completed-hearing figure, even after accounting for cases progressing through different stages of the process.
Tiwari urged electors whose names were missing from the draft roll published on August 5 to apply for inclusion without waiting for the extended deadline. Form 6 applications can be filed through the election portal, the ECINET application or through Booth Level Officers.
Authorities have so far received 6,804 Form 6 applications for inclusion, alongside 738 Form 7 applications and 5,409 Form 8 applications. Of the Form 8 applications, 982 concern shifting of residence and 4,427 seek corrections.
The total number of claims and objections received stands at 12,951. The CEO also sought to clear up what has become one of the more cumbersome parts of the exercise: documentation. Electors do not have to submit every document on the Election Commission’s prescribed list.
For a claim, one supporting document from the prescribed list can be sufficient, while an elector submitting Aadhaar must provide Aadhaar along with one additional supporting document.
The accepted documents include birth certificates, SC/ST and OBC certificates, school certificates, passports, valid government-issued identity cards and family register copies.
Electors who moved to Meghalaya from States where SIR has already been completed can also use an extract of the previous electoral roll, including the 2025 Bihar electoral roll for those who shifted from Bihar. Tiwari cautioned electors against submitting unnecessary documents in bulk, saying excessive paperwork increases the time required by election officials to upload and verify records.
The instruction is simple: submit what establishes the claim, not everything that happens to be sitting in the family file.
The revision also allows representation through relatives where an elector is unable to appear personally, provided the required declaration is submitted. The election machinery is making additional arrangements for persons with disabilities, senior citizens and critically ill electors.
Political parties have appointed 1,814 Booth Level Agents across Meghalaya to participate in the revision process. Electors dissatisfied with decisions taken by Electoral Registration Officers can appeal first to the District Election Officer and then to the Chief Electoral Officer. The State’s election machinery also held a video conference on Tuesday with Deputy Commissioners, District Election Officers, EROs and AEROs to review progress across Meghalaya.
The numbers now leave little room for a routine administrative reading of the exercise: 6.51 lakh notices generated, 2.08 lakh hearings completed and 384 voters already found ineligible. With claims closing on September 18, hearings ending October 17 and the final roll due on October 21, Meghalaya’s electoral register is heading into its decisive three weeks.
