Gandhinagar: The office of the chief electoral officer (CEO) said on Thursday that the Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced a special summary revision (SSR) of electoral rolls in Gujarat and 16 other states and Union territories, with Jan 1, as the qualifying date. The final electoral roll will be published on Jan 4, following a month-long window for claims and objections.The exercise aims to enrol all eligible citizens who turn 18 on or before Jan 1. The ECI will also accept advance applications from prospective voters who will turn 18 by the subsequent qualifying dates: April 1, July 1 and Oct 1, 2027.A CEO office statement urged eligible citizens, particularly young people registering as voters for the first time, to apply within the prescribed period to enrol their names or seek corrections in the electoral roll.How’s Special Revision different from SIRWhile a Summary Revision focuses on new eligibles and routine corrections, SIR goes far deeper, involving statewide house-to-house verification, detailed scrutiny of entries, and large-scale data audits.For instance, under a Summary Revision, a voter who has shifted homes must file a form to update their address. Under SIR, the Booth Level Officer visits that address, confirms whether the voter still lives there, checks if anyone new has become eligible, and updates the roll based on physical verification rather than waiting for the voter to initiate the change.The SIR of electoral rolls has triggered a political controversy, with opposition parties raising concerns over the deletion of voters’ names and the possibility of eligible citizens being left out of electoral lists. The poll panel has maintained that the exercise is aimed at cleaning up electoral rolls by removing duplicate and ineligible entries, including those belonging to deceased voters, while ensuring that all eligible citizens are included.
