NEW DELHI: Election Commission Thursday ordered special summary revision (SSR) of electoral rolls in 17 states/Union territories (UT) — including the five states due for assembly elections early next year — with reference to Jan 1, 2027 as the qualifying date.This is the first SSR exercise — which, unlike special intensive revision (SIR) that prepares electoral roll de novo, is a mere updation of the roll with no house-to-house visits by booth-level officers (BLOs) — to be undertaken after it was paused post-2024, on account of SIR that started with Bihar in June 2025 and has since covered 31 states/UTs in back-to-back phases. The third phase of SIR, covering 19 states/UTs, is still underway, with only a few states completed.As per the SSR schedule announced for 17 states/UTs — Assam, Andaman & Nicobar, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Lakshadweep, MP, Manipur, Puducherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, UP, Uttarakhand and West Bengal — rationalisation of polling stations will be completed by Nov 2.

Draft rolls shall be published on Nov 12, followed by the claims and objections window from Nov 12 to Dec 11 and their disposal by Dec 28.

Final rolls for the 17 states/UTs will be published on Jan 4, 2027.EC added that the schedule for the 19 states/UTs covered in Phase 3 as well as Himachal, J&K and Ladakh, where SIR has not yet been ordered, shall be announced later.The non-conduct of SSR after Jan 2024, barring Assam where it was completed ahead of polls earlier this year, was purportedly one of the points of alleged disagreements between ECs S S Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, on the one hand, and CEC Gyanesh Kumar, on the other.