Election Commission orders Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in 17 states and UTs

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday, 15 October 2026, ordered a Special Summary Revision (SSR) of electoral rolls in 17 states and Union Territories, with 1 January 2027 as the qualifying date, according to The Hindu, Hindustan Times and ETV Bharat. The ECI’s own letter was not available to us; this report relies on those three outlets, which agree on the details below.

Where and when

The 17 are 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 reports say the Commission wrote to their Chief Electoral Officers, directing the revision under Section 21 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950.

The schedule, as reported:

• Rationalisation and rearrangement of polling stations by 2 November.
• Publication of draft rolls on 12 November.
• Claims and objections from 12 November to 11 December, disposed of by 28 December.
• Final rolls on 4 January 2027.

Electoral registration officers will also accept advance applications for the later qualifying dates of 1 April, 1 July and 1 October 2027, the reports say.

Other states

According to the reports, the SSR schedule for 17 other states and UTs, where the SIR is “going on or has just been completed”, will be announced later. They are listed as 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 the SIR has not started, the schedule will be announced “keeping in view their weather conditions”.

Context

An SSR updates the existing rolls through incremental corrections, whereas the SIR rebuilds the list afresh, Hindustan Times reported. The Hindu describes the SSR as an annual process meant to enrol eligible voters, particularly young and first-time electors, and to correct roll entries. Hindustan Times reported that this is the first SSR since the round that ended with final rolls on 6 January 2025.

The Hindu noted that the terms of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly end on 22 May 2027, and those of the Manipur, Goa, Punjab and Uttarakhand assemblies end on different dates in March 2027. ETV Bharat reported that the announcement came during protests by INDIA bloc parties over alleged “vote theft” and their demand for the Chief Election Commissioner’s resignation. Our earlier reports cover the petition filed in the Supreme Court and the Delhi protests. The reports reviewed do not carry a reaction to the SSR order from political parties.

Safeguards in the order

Hindustan Times reported that the letter refers to a separate ECI order of 9 October prescribing maximum limits on Form 7 (objections and deletions) submissions “to discourage bulk filing of applications by individual electors”. It reported that registration officers must personally cross-verify any case in which deletions exceed 2% of electors in a polling station, or in which one person is the objector in more than five cases.

ETV Bharat reported that the Commission said Aadhaar may be furnished voluntarily in Forms 6 and 8, and that no application would be denied, and no entry deleted, for inability to furnish it. Hindustan Times reported that no polling station may have more than 1,200 electors without the Commission’s approval, and that families at the same address must not be split across stations.

What happens next

Polling stations are to be rearranged by 2 November, and the draft rolls are due on 12 November, when the claims and objections window opens.