The Election Commission of India (ECI) has launched preparations for the Manipur Assembly elections, which must be held before the 60-member Manipur Legislative Assembly's term expires in March 2027, election officials said on Friday, 23 October 2026. Senior ECI officers visited Manipur earlier this week to assess the state's readiness for the forthcoming polls.

District-Level Review and Presentations

During the review, representatives from all 16 districts of Manipur — including District Election Officers (DEOs) and Superintendents of Police — made presentations to the visiting ECI delegation. Discussions covered both administrative and technical aspects of election management, as the Commission moves to ensure that ground-level arrangements are in place well ahead of polling day.

EVM and VVPAT First Level Checking Demonstrated

A key part of the preparatory exercise was a workshop on First Level Checking (FLC) of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) units. Engineers from Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL), a Central government public sector undertaking, demonstrated the administrative and technical safeguards built into both systems. The workshop was attended by DEOs, Deputy DEOs, FLC supervisors, and other election officials.

First Level Checking is the mandatory physical and technical examination of EVMs and VVPATs to verify their functioning before deployment in any election. According to an election official, the process is required before every general election, by-election, or any poll where EVMs are used. Notably, representatives of recognised national and state political parties are permitted to be present during FLC to ensure transparency. Only machines that clear all prescribed checks advance to subsequent stages of preparation.

Five States in Poll Queue for Early 2027

Manipur is one of five states where the ECI is simultaneously preparing to conduct Assembly elections in early 2027. The others are Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, and Goa. The Commission recently notified the Chief Electoral Officers of all five states about the impending electoral exercises while announcing the annual Special Summary Revision (SSR) of electoral rolls across 17 states and Union Territories.

Both the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and the Special Summary Revision of voter lists are currently underway across the five poll-bound states, aimed at updating rolls, adding eligible new voters, and correcting or removing outdated entries.

Background: Manipur's Political Context

The last Manipur Assembly elections were held in two phases — on 28 February and 5 March 2022 — for the state's 60 legislative seats. The state has remained politically sensitive, and the Commission's early groundwork signals an intent to ensure a smooth, well-administered electoral process. This comes amid Manipur's prolonged internal security challenges, which are expected to shape logistical planning for polling and security deployment across the state's districts.

What Comes Next

With the Assembly term ending in March 2027, the ECI must announce the poll schedule within the constitutionally mandated window. The ongoing voter list revision, EVM checks, and district-level coordination will form the bedrock of that announcement. All eyes will now be on the Commission's formal schedule notification, which will set in motion the Model Code of Conduct for Manipur and the other four states.