India election officials begin state visits ahead of 2027 polls

India’s Election Commission is stepping up preparations for assembly elections in five states, with senior officials led by Deputy Election Commissioners beginning field visits this week. Election officials will first visit Goa, followed by Uttarakhand next week. Further visits are planned to Punjab and Manipur in the coming weeks.

The commission has not announced when its officials will travel to Uttar Pradesh. The visits will allow the commission to assess preparations at field level before the polls. The terms of the assemblies in Manipur, Goa, Punjab and Uttarakhand end on different dates in March 2027, while the term of Uttar Pradesh’s 403-member assembly ends on May 22 next year.

The Representation of the People Act, 1950 allows the commission to hold elections earlier than six months before an assembly’s term expires. The commission usually sends the full panel, comprising the Chief Election Commissioner and the other commissioners, to poll-bound states before announcing election schedules. The current programme instead begins with Deputy Election Commissioners overseeing preparations.

Uttar Pradesh and Goa have started first-level checks of electronic voting machines and voter-verifiable paper audit trail units. Engineers from Bharat Electronics Limited and Electronics Corporation of India Limited, the two public-sector manufacturers, inspect the machines for mechanical defects. Faulty units are returned for repair or replacement.

Mock polls are also held in the presence of political-party representatives. Data remaining from previous elections is cleared during the checks, and units that pass diagnostics are marked “FLC OK” and sealed with specialised pink paper seals.