EC offers SSR lifeline amid furore over SIR

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday ordered a special summary revision of electoral rolls in 17 states and Union territories, the first such exercise in nearly two years that is expected to not only help Gen Z and first-time voters but also those deleted by the controversial special intensive revision.

The SSR - which will be conducted between November 2 and December 28, with the final roll published on January 4, 2027 - will also provide political parties with machine-readable PDFs of the draft and final electoral roll, fulfilling a longstanding demand of opposition parties. This was part of a slew of changes announced by ECI to SSR, which also included greater sharing of data on additions, deletions and modifications to the roll.

"The commission has issued instructions dated 29.09.2026 to undertake a special drive for the enrolment of left out/young/first time eligible electors. Now, in order to facilitate the enrolment of eligible electors with reference to the qualifying date of 1st January, 2027 along with seeking advance applications for the three subsequent qualifying dates of 1st April, 1st July & 1st October, 2027, the commission hereby directs that the existing electoral rolls shall be revised by conducting a Special Summary Revision (SSR)," ECI said in a letter to chief electoral officers of 17 regions.

SSRs - where new voters can file form 6 to enter the rolls, file form 7 to object to the inclusion of another person, or file form 8 to correct details and particulars on the roll - is typically an annual affair. Unlike SIR, there is no scrutiny or verification of every existing voter in SSR and only new applications are verified before adding or dropping someone from the list. The exercise is used to bring new voters - those between ages 18 and 19 - into the electoral roll.

This time, though, SSR is also likely to help the millions deleted by the controversial SIR as many of those people are likely to file form 6 to return to the rolls.

"SSR is a routine exercise. It will provide an opportunity for those deleted during SIR to get back on the roll," Bhardwaj added.

The long delay in holding SSR became a focal point of controversy amid simmering anger over SIR, which has already deleted 130 million names across India. These include voters marked in absent, shifted, dead, and duplicate (ASDD) categories. The SIR mass deletions and allegations of mismanagement, dubious software and faulty procedures have fuelled sweeping protests against ECI and chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, which have roiled Delhi and reached the Supreme Court.

In the past two decades, SSRs were held 19 times and SIR only twice - 2002-03 and 2025-26.

ECI also announced a string of changes in how SSR will be conducted, directing electoral registration officers to provide recognised political parties with two copies of the draft and final electoral rolls for each polling station. This includes one hard copy and one soft copy in a readable PDF format.

The digital copies will not contain voters' photographs. "ERO, immediately after draft and final publication, in accordance with Rule 11(c) & 22 (c) of the Registration of the Electors Rule, 1960 (RER, 1960), shall supply free of cost two copies (one hard copy & one soft copy in readable PDF format) of each separate polling station to every recognised political party," the poll body said.

The order also directs officials to share addition, deletion and modification lists to help parties track changes in voter records.

The commission currently uses scanned images in PDF format to display electoral rolls. Readable digital copies can be searched and analysed more easily, helping political parties check voter names and scrutinise changes at the polling-station level. ECI will now provide readable PDFs of electoral rolls to contesting candidates and EROs will share a weekly list of claims and objections with political parties.

The changes address several key concerns raised by the Opposition over the past two years, including in June 2025, when Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and party chief Mallikarjun Kharge demanded consolidated, digital and machine-readable voter rolls for the 2024 Lok Sabha and Maharashtra assembly elections, along with version histories and timestamps showing changes to the rolls. They had alleged manipulations and duplications in the electoral rolls.

ECI had then rejected the allegations and argued that the demand for machine-readable lists was not tenable under the existing framework.

Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said that the decision has come too late. "Earlier when Rahul Gandhi demanded machine-readable voter rolls, the CEC, the BJP, and its troll machinery ridiculed the demand. Now that they stand completely exposed after repeated vote chori and SIR, they are willing to concede this demand in a desperate attempt to create the illusion of electoral reform by pushing through piecemeal changes. The ultimate goal is to silence the Opposition," he told HT.

Under the SSR schedule, polling stations will be rationalised and rearranged by November 2, and draft rolls will be published on November 12. Claims and objections can be filed from November 12 to December 11. These must be disposed of by December 28, and the final rolls will be published on January 4, 2027.

Alongside claims for the January 1, 2027 qualifying date, electoral registration officers (EROs) will accept advance applications for the three later qualifying dates of April 1, July 1 and October 1, 2027. This means that those turning 18 between April 1 and October 1 can also apply in this cycle.

The 17 states and UTs where SSR will be conducted include the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Puducherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.

The Commission said the SSR schedule for 17 other states and UTs will be announced later, since SIR was "going on or has just been completed" there. These include Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Delhi, Odisha, Sikkim, Tripura and Telangana.

For Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, where SIR has not started, the schedule will be announced "keeping in view their weather conditions".

The commission directed the states' chief secretaries to ensure that the CEO, district election officers, EROs, assistant EROs, booth level officer (BLO) supervisors and BLOs "are adequately supported with manpower and resources". No post notified as district election officer, ERO or assistant ERO may fall vacant during SSR.

The letter noted that ECI, in a separate order dated October 9, prescribed "maximum limits for submitting Form 7", to "discourage bulk filing of applications by individual electors". The maximum limit is 10 applications per person.

It adds that EROs must personally cross-verify any case where deletions exceed 2% of the electors in a polling station, and any case where one person is the objector in more than five cases. The Opposition has repeatedly alleged that mass deletion efforts were made during SIR.