The Election Commission on Monday announced a revision of the electoral rolls in Assam, a statutory obligation before the Assembly polls next year.

Unlike the citizenship document-based special intensive revision (SIR) of rolls underway in other states, Assam will undergo a special revision that does not involve fresh enumeration of voters.

Assam has been kept out of the SIR ambit because the update of the state’s National Register of Citizens (NRC), under the Supreme Court’s watch since 2013, is still on.

A former EC official found the nomenclature of special revision “odd”.

Poll authorities conduct “special summary revision” (SSR) for the whole country at the end of every year and also before Assembly polls. This is preceded by house surveys to identify unregistered electors or those who have died,
“permanently shifted”, registered in more than one place and need corrections. A draft roll is published and revised after investigating claims and objections filed.

Assam’s special revision notification reads similar to an SSR, except that the time period is shorter. The SSR is usually a five-month process while the special revision is
expected to take less than three months.

Section 21(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, says: “...The Election Commission may at any time, for reasons to be recorded, direct a special revision of the electoral roll for any constituency or part of a constituency in such manner as it may think fit....”

The former EC official explained: “It is debatable, and it has not been tested in a court of law whether a rule designed for special circumstances for a constituency or a part of it can be extended to an entire state.”

EC officials did not clarify the difference between the SSR and special revision.

House-to-house verifications will take place from November 22 to December 20. The draft roll will be published on December 27, and claims and objections can be filed until January 22. The final roll will be published on February 10.

The term of the Assam Assembly will expire on May 20 next year.

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma posted on X: “The Govt of Assam welcomes the Election Commission of India’s decision to undertake a Special Revision of the electoral roll with 01.01.2026 as the qualifying date. This will help ensure clean,
updated and accurate electoral rolls for all eligible citizens. Assam will extend full cooperation to the @ECISVEEP to complete the revision in a transparent and time-bound manner.”