- India
- Oct 16
EC orders Special Summary Revision (SSR) of voters’ list in 17 states
• The Election Commission announced that Special Summary Revision (SSR) of electoral rolls will be conducted in 17 states and Union Territories.
• The states/UTs where SSR will be held are: Andaman and Nicobar Island, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Puducherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal.
• In these 17 states, the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voters’ list is over.
What is SSR?
• SSR is an annual exercise mandated under election law.
• It is often held prior to elections and aims to uphold a just and transparent voting process by adding newly eligible voters, including those who have reached 18 years of age or changed their constituency. It also involves the elimination of duplicate and deceased voters.
• The exercise of SSR of electoral roll consists of two stages namely, pre-revision activities and revision activities.
• The EC issues detailed guidelines while ordering the SSR giving ample time to each activity during pre-revision and revision period.
• A machine-readable voter list has been a key demand of opposition parties.
• The EC has till now turned down this demand, citing fudging concerns and court orders.
• In a key change, the EC will provide political parties with soft copies. Draft and final electoral rolls (without photos) will now be provided in “readable PDF format” instead of image PDF format.
• At the draft stage, addition, deletion, and modification supplements will be shared with recognised political parties.
Difference between SIR and SSR
• The key difference is in how the electoral roll is prepared and updated.
• Under SSR, the existing roll is retained and updated through claims and objections from all eligible citizens.
• Under SIR, the roll is prepared afresh through a more intensive enumeration exercise. It includes collecting and verifying voter information before publishing the draft roll, after which claims and objections are invited.