The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced a special summary revision (SR) of Assam’s electoral rolls, a process separate from the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) being conducted across 12 other states. The Assam-specific revision will begin on November 22, marking the start of home-to-home verification by booth-level officers (BLOs).
According to the ECI, the draft electoral roll will be published on December 27, followed by a claims and objections window, and the final voter list will be released on February 10, 2026. This schedule aligns with the upcoming Assam Assembly election, slated for April 2026.
What Makes Assam’s Revision Different
Unlike the SIR exercise, Assam’s special revision will not involve the distribution of new enumeration forms. Instead, BLOs will receive pre-filled registers containing details of all existing voters within their polling stations.
During door-to-door visits, BLOs will:
- Verify current voter entries
- Identify duplicate, deceased, or permanently shifted voters
- Accept Form 6 applications for new voter registration
- Accept Form 7 for deletion or transfer
- Accept Form 8 for corrections
To ensure on-the-spot assistance, each BLO must carry at least 30 blank Form 6 and 20 copies each of Form 7 and Form 8.
D-Voters Will Not Be Updated
A key directive in the Commission’s order states that “D-voters” (doubtful voters) will remain unchanged in the upcoming electoral roll. BLOs have been instructed not to include or update D-voter details during home verification. Instead, all names marked with a “D” will be carried forward exactly as they appear in the existing roll.
Any change to a D-voter’s status—including deletion or removal of the “D” tag—can occur only after an order from a Foreigners Tribunal or court.
Assam remains the only state in India that retains the D-voter classification, a system introduced in 1997.
Who Are D-Voters?
The D-voter category traces its origin to the Assam Accord of 1985, which mandates that anyone entering Assam illegally after March 24, 1971 is to be treated as a foreigner.
In 1997, nearly three lakh individuals were marked as “D” during electoral roll updates. These were people whose citizenship was deemed questionable. Their cases were referred to Foreigners Tribunals, where individuals had to prove their Indian citizenship using documents such as:
- Birth certificates
- Land records
- Legacy data and family history
The process continues today. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma recently stated that the state currently has around 96,987 D-voters.
Why This Matters
The continuation of the D-voter status in this special revision means nearly one lakh residents of Assam will remain disenfranchised, unless they receive legal clearance before February 2026. The issue carries enormous social and political weight in Assam, tied to the state’s long history of migration, identity conflicts, and the massive NRC (National Register of Citizens) verification process.
While non-D-voters will see smoother updates and corrections during the revision, D-voters must continue their wait for tribunal verdicts before regaining the right to vote.
Sources within the Election Commission confirmed that Assam is not undergoing SIR due to the NRC process, necessitating a separate and carefully monitored revision exercise.