After the controversial Special Intensive Revision (SIR), the Election Commission of India has begun Special Summary Revision (SSR), a special drive to enrol 'left out', young and first-time voters into the voters' list. The final SSR list for Kerala will be published on January 4, 2027.

Unlike SIR, which is conducted once in a quarter century, SSR is an annual affair. It normally begins on October 1, but this time it was slightly delayed and began only on October 15.

Kerala Chief Electoral Officer D Sajith Babu said on Friday that village-level camps have been organised in all 1,670-odd villages in Kerala to facilitate the SSR process.

The Draft SSR list will be published on November 12, 2026. There will be a window of one month - from November 12 to December 11 - to submit any complaints regarding the Draft list.

"Registered political parties will be given both hard and soft copies of the Draft list. They can use their booth-level agents (BLAs) to conduct a ground-level check and can submit any complaints they have," the CEO Kerala said. "The Commission will conduct hearings and house visits to resolve issues," he said.

All complaints will be disposed of by December 28. After this, the final list will be published on January 4, 2027.

Rationalisation of polling booths
The CEO said that four activities would be held as part of the SSR process.

One, reorganisation/rationalisation of polling booths. "Some booths will have less than 500 voters, and others will have more than 1,200. So voters will have to be redistributed. It can be done only with the support of political parties," CEO Sajith Babu said. There is also the issue of voters in a single household finding their names in different polling booths.

The Election Commission of India deadline for completing the reorganisation is November 2. "Political parties have asked for more time. I think there is logic in their demand. We will bring this to the notice of the Election Commission," the CEO said. Political parties have argued that reorganisation should be finalised only after the final SSR list is published.

Inclusion of new/deleted voters
For this, Form 6 is used. "You don't have to wait to be 18 to apply. Those who will turn 18 on January 1, 2027, can also apply," the CEO said. If anyone has been deleted, particularly during the SIR process, they can also apply afresh using Form 6.

Exclusion of voters
Form 7 is the tool used. Three categories are liable to be deleted. One, the dead. "The local bodies have a death registry. We can use this database to delete names of deceased," the CEO said.

Two, those who have surrendered their Indian citizenship. "To cease to be an Indian citizen, one has to surrender the passport in the nearest Regional Transport Office. District collectors can access this database to exclude such names from the list," Sajith Babu said.

Three, those who figure in the voters' list more than once. "The ECI has a software called DSE (demographically similar entries). This can be used to weed out names that are entered in the list multiple times," the CEO said.

Change of address
Form 8 can be used to make necessary corrections, like a change of address, in the voters' list. Compulsions of job or marriage could have caused a person to permanently shift residence in the last few months after the SIR was completed. Such individuals can apply in Form 8 for a change in address.

Those in the same house but in different polling booths can also ask for the same polling booth for everyone in the house. This can also be done through Form 8.

Number of voters in Kerala
Latest figures of the ECI show that Kerala has 2,73,46,351 voters (1,40,30,711 females; 1,33,15,372 males and 268 third gender). Compared to the number of electors before SIR began in Kerala last October (2,78,50,855), this reveals a shortage of 5.05 lakh voters.

The Draft SIR list had 2,54,42,352 voters, a shortage of 24,09 lakh voters. When the final SIR list was published, it was 2,69,53,644 voters, a shortage of 8.97 lakh voters.