Guwahati: The Election Commission of India held a series of meetings in Guwahati to review preparations for the upcoming 2026 Assam Assembly elections.
Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar addressed a press conference and said that the poll schedule will be announced in accordance with the Constitution and existing laws, keeping in mind the convenience of voters. He highlighted that Bihu is the most important festival of Assam and said the Commission considers local factors while planning elections.
Final Electoral Roll Published
The Chief Election Commissioner informed that the final electoral roll has been published after a special revision exercise. The draft roll had around 2.52 crore voters, which has now been revised to approximately 2.49 crore.
He clarified that the Constitution empowers the Election Commission to include or remove names from the voter list. The special revision in Assam was conducted to ensure that all eligible citizens are included and ineligible names are removed.
Rejecting allegations of manipulation, he said any eligible voter whose name is not included can submit Form 6. If necessary, an appeal can be made before the District Commissioner. Out of 2.5 crore voters, only about 500 applications have been received so far.
Arrangements for Polling
The Commission has announced several measures for the upcoming elections:
- Mobile phone deposit facilities at polling stations
- Larger font size and colour photographs of candidates on EVMs
- Maximum of 1,200 voters per polling station
- 100 percent webcasting of polling stations
- Drinking water, toilets and help desks at polling stations
- Wheelchairs and transport facilities for persons with disabilities
Voter and Polling Details
Assam has a total of 2,49,58,139 registered voters. Among them, 1,24,82,213 are men and 1,24,75,583 are women, while 343 belong to the third gender category. The state also has 2,03,709 persons with disabilities and 2,586 voters aged above 100 years.
A total of 31,486 polling stations will be set up across the state, including 27,711 in rural areas and 3,775 in urban areas.
During the two-day visit, the Election Commission team led by Gyanesh Kumar held meetings with enforcement agencies, senior state officials, the Chief Electoral Officer, police authorities and representatives of Central Armed Police Forces to ensure smooth and transparent conduct of the elections.
