New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced the process for updating and cleaning up the voter list under the Special Summary Revision (SSR) in 17 states and Union Territories, with a heavy emphasis on “special drives” to enrol new voters, especially those turning 18. The decision follows revelations that two Election Commissioners strongly disagreed, in writing, with the way the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists was being carried out across the country since 2025.Recently stung by the anger of Gen Z voters, who could not enrol since the 2024-25 SSR, the ECI is now returning to the tried-and-tested annual revision cycle that it had paused while it undertook the cross-country SIR since 2025. This SIR has so far excluded around 13 crore voters, sparking immense public anger and demands for Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar to quit and to scrap the SIR voter lists.Also read: Bengal’s Voter-Deletion Requests Were Processed Faster and Succeeded Far More Often Than Inclusion Claims, ECI Data ShowsUnder immense pressure after deleting all these voters as it went about creating new electoral rolls from scratch for each state and Union Territory, the ECI had ordered a special enrolment drive on September 29. Its latest announcements on SSR formalises that process.New assurances regarding SSRThe ECI has made several assurances while announcing the SSR, even saying there are “major” changes in the 2026 SSR compared to how it was previously done – readable draft as well as final electoral rolls will be provided to political parties, candidates will be given soft copies (readable) of the electoral rolls and, significantly, parties will get a weekly list of claims and objections.When the annual SSR process was skipped, the ECI could not add youth turning 18 as voters (it said its software was responsible for this). Now, the old SSR method will give Gen Z voters a chance to enter the voter lists, apart from allowing existing voters to request corrections and for people to raise objections to entries. But strict limits have already been announced for how many objections can be filed by ordinary voters.The states being covered under the SSR 2026 are Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Puducherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal – where the SIR is over.Additionally, ECI has announced November 2, 2026, as the date on which the rationalisation of polling stations, an integral part of SSR, will have been completed. This is critical to the process, since the rules say a polling booth should cater to 1,200 voters and no more. A lot will now depend on how many come up to register themselves as voters.Qualifying datesECI has announced January 1, 2027 as the qualifying date for the SSR, and also three more dates – April 1, July 1 and October 1, 2027 – as additional qualifying dates. Citizens turning 18 on the three later dates will be able to apply in advance for enrolment.Also read: CEC Gyanesh Kumar Yet to Take Final Call on Fresh Inclusion of 18-Year-Olds in Rolls: ReportThe draft rolls will be published on November 12, after which claims and objections will be invited until December 11. The final rolls will be published on January 1 next year.In states where the SIR is ongoing or where it has not yet started, the dates will be announced later, the ECI said in a statement issued on October 15.‘Major changes’While the ECI has directed officials to compare pre-SIR and post-SIR rolls, identify people whose names disappeared, conduct outreach and help eligible people apply through Form 6, the special drives and SSR process provide voters with a formal opportunity for re-enrolment.First-time voters turning 18 by the relevant qualifying date, eligible voters left out during or after SIR and other citizens who are not registered but meet the requirements for enrolment will be registered during SSR.However, it does not mean the 13 crore excluded so far will be able to find their way back onto voter lists. Further, the SSR order does not give the special drive its own start date, end date, target number of voters or completion deadline.Nevertheless, in response to the growing outrage over lack of transparency in the SIR proces, the ECI has announced how the SSR it is now conducting will be different from previous ones (and, automatically, the SIR):S. No.AreaEarlier SSRsChanges in SSR 20271Supply of soft copies to recognised political partiesDraft and final electoral rolls were provided in image PDF format without photographs of electors.Draft and final electoral rolls will be provided in readable PDF format without photographs of electors.2Sharing of supplements during the draft stageSupplements showing additions, deletions and modifications were kept for record and future use and were not shared with recognised political parties during the draft stage.Lists of additions, deletions and modifications will now be shared with recognised political parties.3Supply of soft copies to contesting candidatesContesting candidates could obtain a soft copy of the alphabetically arranged electoral roll on the last date of nominations, on demand and payment, in CD/DVD format.At the time of the poll, a readable PDF of the alphabetically arranged electoral roll may be provided on a pen drive or other electronic storage device on demand and payment.4Weekly sharing of claims and objectionsThe weekly lists of claims and objections shared with political parties were incremental in nature.The ERO will share the weekly list of claims and objections along with printed copies of the lists from previous week(s).5Help desk facilitiesNo existing instruction.Help desks will be established at district and/or Assembly Constituency level to facilitate enrolment, especially migrant, vulnerable and marginalised persons.6Limits on Form 7 submissions by individual electorsNo existing instruction.Limits have been prescribed by the Election Commission in letter No. 23/Inst/2026-ERS dated 9 October 2026.7Special drives and camps for enrolmentNo existing instruction.CEOs will ensure special drives. Special camps may be organised in night shelters and labour colonies, as well as for homeless, marginalised, etc.Searchability: Initially, during the Bihar SIR, the ECI had uploaded draft electoral rolls on its website with a ‘searchability’ feature, which enabled people to easily search their names and find out if their names have been deleted. However, the ECI later replaced the file with a version which has no search feature.Also read: Bihar’s Gen Z Voters Are Googling Jungle Raj. Some Are Scrolling Past, Some Aren’t.This had made it difficult for parties and voters to compare entries, detect duplicates and analyse additions and deletions. CEC Kumar had even said that machine-readable voter lists could not be shared with political parties, citing privacy concerns and a Supreme Court judgment.Sharing claims and objections: In West Bengal, SIR ran into a highly contentious claims-and-objections phase from December 2025 to January 2026, especially over alleged bulk Form 7 applications to delete voters and mounting evidence that ECI itself was behind many of these, but with the details virtually impossible to confirm without ECI sharing data.Limits on Form 7: This provision, too, is a direct response to the controversy over bulk Form 7 applications to challenge or delete voters’ names, which became prominent during the West Bengal and Karnataka SIR (ongoing). As per the ECI’s latest decision, each individual voter can submit a maximum of 10 Form 7 applications during the entire claims and objections period.Meanwhile, only five Form 7 applications per month can be filed outside the special claims and objections period.Special drives: The immediate background for this, too, is the SIR controversy. After excluding a large number of names, or flagging names and requiring cumbersome verification, the ECI has ordered a separate enrolment drive for eligible voters to finally get onto the rolls.ECI will now compare pre-SIR and post-SIR rolls, identify eligible people missing from the new rolls, visit their homes and help them submit Form 6 to be included. The SSR notice specifically names residents of night shelters, labour colonies, homeless people and vulnerable or marginalised groups – all groups axed liberally during the SIR process.SSR and electoral staffThe SSR 2026-27 is a substantial exercise for election staff, apart from the training and physical burden of work on them. They have to complete the physical verification of polling-station locations, review voter numbers, rearrange polling stations and also the electoral roll “parts”.They must also receive applications for inclusion, objections to entries and requests for corrections or shifting. Thereafter, they must decide the claims and objections and wait until the decisions are incorporated into the final roll.The ECI has directed that no official connected with SSR may be transferred from the publication of the draft roll until publication of the final roll without prior ECI approval.For our full coverage on the SIR and the issues it has brought to citizens, click here.