Guwahati: The Election Commission has yet to announce the 2026-27 annual revision of electoral rolls, despite the exercise normally being launched around May or June, according to a report by the Economic Times.
The delay has been linked to differences between Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.
The annual exercise is used to add people who have become eligible to vote, including those who turn 18, while also allowing authorities to update and correct voter records.
The report comes amid separate reporting that Sandhu and Joshi recorded objections on at least 14 occasions between October 2025 and August 2026 over decisions they said were made without their knowledge or approval.
The regular Summary Revision (SSR) has not been carried out on its usual annual cycle since January 2024. The Election Commission began the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar in 2025, and the shift to that exercise interrupted the long-standing practice of conducting the SSR each year across states.
Sandhu and Joshi have reportedly argued that carrying out an SIR should not prevent the annual SSR from being conducted. They have also called for the regular revision to resume.
The two commissioners have referred to the Election Commission’s electoral-roll manual in support of their position. The manual provides for the inclusion of citizens who become eligible to register as voters.
The disagreement reportedly resulted in Gyanesh Kumar seeking a legal opinion on whether the SSR should resume. Sandhu and Joshi are learnt to have maintained their position after the legal consultation as well.
Normally, work on a new electoral-roll revision begins after its announcement around the end of May. State chief electoral officers then undertake preparatory work for the draft lists, with this stage generally taking two to three months before the rolls are opened for claims and objections.
The final electoral rolls are ordinarily published in January. With the 2026-27 exercise yet to be announced, the delay has affected the entire timetable and has created uncertainty over whether the final lists will be ready within the usual January schedule.
The annual revision serves purposes beyond registering first-time voters. It also allows the Election Commission to update photographs and address discrepancies or other problems found in electoral records.
Four dates are used to determine eligibility during the year: January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1. The additional dates were introduced so that people reaching 18 after January 1 would not have to wait until the following annual cycle to become eligible for inclusion.
The delayed timetable could be significant for states that are scheduled to hold elections in 2027. Uttarakhand and Punjab are currently undergoing the SIR process, while Bihar, where the intensive exercise has already been completed, has not yet gone through another regular revision.
The disagreement reported within the poll panel has also affected some administrative matters. Performance reports involving nearly 50 officials and deputy election commissioners are reportedly still pending because the three members of the Commission have not signed them jointly.
Several officials have approached the CEC and the two Election Commissioners seeking approval of their pending reports. The report said that some cases remain unresolved even though the officials concerned have since taken up other posts.