Preparing electoral rolls in conflict-affected States raises distinct challenges of inclusion and integrity. Discuss with reference to Manipur.

Article 324 gives the ECI superintendence over electoral rolls, and Article 326 guarantees adult suffrage. Manipur's ethnic conflict has displaced many people across valley–hill lines. Its roll for the 2027 Assembly poll must therefore include every displaced citizen and also stay free of bogus entries. These two goals pull against each other.

Challenges of inclusion

• Large deletions: the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), completed in September 2026, removed 1,32,456 names (~6.3%), leaving 19,60,620 electors [1]. No breakdown by death, shifting or duplication has been published.
• Displaced counted as "shifted": door-to-door checks may mark relief-camp residents as having moved. Yet Section 20, RP Act 1950 says temporary absence does not end ordinary residence [2].
• Lost documents: many families fled burning homes and lost their papers. The Supreme Court's 2025 direction in the Bihar SIR to accept Aadhaar as identity proof [3] makes re-enrolment easier.
• Out-of-State displaced: the 2024 camp-voting scheme covered relief camps within Manipur [4]. Those who fled to neighbouring States had no booth to vote at.

Challenges of integrity

• Bogus-vote risk: dead, duplicate or long-absent entries invite impersonation. In a polarised State, even a few fake votes can damage the result's legitimacy.
• High stakes per seat: the Assembly has 40 valley and 20 hill seats [1]. Errors in a single hill constituency can swing its outcome.
• Compressed timeline: the draft roll comes out around mid-November, claims must be settled by 28 December and the final roll is due on 4 January 2027 [1]. That leaves little time to verify disputed cases.
• Booth rationalisation: the ECI caps the number of electors per polling station [5]. Redrawing booths around buffer zones and camps is politically sensitive.

Measures and way forward

• A Special Summary Revision targeting left-out and young electors now follows the SIR [1]. With four qualifying dates a year [4], errors can be corrected continuously.
• Publish constituency-wise deletions with reasons so that clusters of "shifted" deletions are rechecked.
• Revive the 2024 IDP scheme: keep displaced voters on their home rolls and set up special polling stations at camps [4]. Extend it to voters now living outside Manipur.
• Booth Level Officers (BLOs) should hold claims camps inside relief camps and accept Aadhaar from the start [3].

Inclusion and integrity can both be achieved if the State, not the displaced voter, has to prove that each deletion was correct. A transparent, camp-centred revision would make Manipur's first post-conflict Assembly legitimate. It would also keep the constitutional promise of universal adult franchise and SDG 16's goal of inclusive institutions.