EC announces electoral roll revision in Arunachal, Mizoram, Sikkim; final rolls on January 21

The Election Commission on November 5 announced the annual Special Summary Revision (SSR) of electoral rolls in four states and two Union Territories, including three northeastern states — Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Sikkim. The final electoral rolls are scheduled to be published on January 21, 2027.

The revision 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 enrolled as voters, with a particular focus on young and first-time electors.

The exercise will also facilitate advance applications from people who will become eligible to vote on April 1, July 1 and October 1, 2027, in addition to those eligible on the qualifying date of January 1, 2027.

The draft electoral rolls will be published on November 30, following which eligible voters and other stakeholders will be able to raise claims and objections.

The Commission has also put in place safeguards to prevent wrongful deletions from electoral rolls. Applications seeking deletion of repeated or multiple entries will have to undergo field verification.

Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) will be required to personally cross-check cases involving deletion of more than two per cent of electors at a polling station. They will also have to verify cases where the same objector submits more than five objections.

The poll panel has clarified that furnishing Aadhaar details in Forms 6 and 8 will remain voluntary. No application for enrolment can be rejected, and no existing entry can be deleted, solely because an applicant or elector fails to provide Aadhaar details.

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

In a first, the poll authority had also decided to provide electoral rolls to recognised political parties in a "readable PDF format" instead of image files, allowing easier access to the voter lists.

The Commission has directed the chief secretaries of the respective states and Union Territories to ensure that adequate manpower and resources are made available to complete the exercise.

With the latest announcement, the revision exercise will cover additional states and Union Territories as the poll body works towards updating electoral rolls and facilitating the enrolment of eligible voters ahead of the 2027 qualifying dates.