Election Commission announces voter roll revision in 6 states, UTs; final lists on January 21

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced the annual Special Summary Revision (SSR) of electoral rolls in six states and Union Territories, setting January 21, 2027, as the deadline for publishing the final voters' lists.

The exercise will cover Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Mizoram, Odisha and Sikkim. It aims to ensure that all eligible citizens are included in the electoral rolls, with particular attention to young and first-time voters.

The revision will also allow advance applications from people who will turn 18 and become eligible to vote on April 1, July 1 and October 1, 2027. January 1, 2027, will be the primary qualifying date for the exercise.

Draft rolls on November 30, final lists in January

The integrated draft electoral rolls will be published on November 30. The period for filing claims and objections will run until December 30, while their disposal is scheduled to be completed by January 18. The final electoral rolls will be published on January 21, 2027.

The Commission has also directed that the rationalisation and rearrangement of polling stations be completed by November 20.

Chief secretaries of the respective states and Union Territories have been asked to ensure that election officials have adequate manpower and resources to carry out the exercise.

EC sets safeguards for voter deletions

The Commission has laid down additional checks for applications seeking deletion of names from electoral rolls. Cases involving repeated or multiple entries will require field verification.

Electoral registration officers (EROs) must personally verify deletion requests exceeding 2% of the total electors at a polling station. They must also conduct personal cross-checks when an individual objector submits more than five objections.

The Commission has clarified that providing Aadhaar details in Forms 6 and 8 will remain voluntary. An application for enrolment cannot be rejected, nor can an existing entry be deleted, solely because an applicant or elector has not furnished Aadhaar details.

Earlier revision covered 17 states and UTs

The latest announcement follows the Commission's October 15 decision to conduct the annual Special Summary Revision in 17 states and Union Territories. That exercise included poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Goa and Punjab.

In a first, the Commission had decided to provide electoral rolls to political parties in a readable PDF format instead of image files. The move was intended to make the rolls easier to access and examine.

The latest revision extends the annual exercise to six more states and Union Territories, with the Commission emphasising the enrolment of eligible voters, particularly young citizens and first-time electors.