The Election Commission has ordered a summary revision of voter lists in 17 States and Union Territories, including poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab, alongside its re-enrolment drive.

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• The Election Commission of India announced a Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in 17 States and Union Territories.
• The list includes poll-bound Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.
• The routine annual summary revision had been paused last year when the Special Intensive Revision was launched.
• A summary revision publishes the existing roll in draft, invites claims and objections, and then issues a final roll without fresh door-to-door enumeration.
• Draft and final rolls will be displayed at polling booths rather than verified house to house.
• For the first time, contesting candidates and recognised parties will receive a readable PDF of alphabetically arranged rolls during elections.
• Supplementary lists of additions and deletions, so far kept only for record, will now be shared with political parties.
• The move follows protests over about 13 crore deletions during the Special Intensive Revision.
• On 29 September the ECI began a re-enrolment drive using the original Form 6 without the earlier declaration, and capped the number of Form 7 objections one person may file.
• The summary revision runs in addition to that re-enrolment drive.
• Article 324 vests superintendence, direction and control of electoral roll preparation in the Election Commission.
• In 2019 the Supreme Court declined a plea for rolls in text format, accepting the ECI's concern that searchable rolls could enable voter profiling.

Tags: ElectionCommission, SpecialSummaryRevision, ElectoralRolls