Rajasthan SSR draft counts 1 1 L more voters than SIR list

Rajasthan's latest draft electoral roll, published Thursday under the Special Summary Revision (SSR) 2027, has produced a fresh numbers puzzle. It records about 5.26 crore voters - about 11 lakh more than the 5.15 crore in the final Special Intensive Revision (SIR) roll published in Feb. But the number is still far below another official figure in circulation: State Election Commission's final electoral roll, which stood at 5.45 crore voters in early Oct. That leaves Rajasthan with three voter counts in less than a year - 5.15 crore in the final SIR roll, 5.45 crore in the SEC roll, and now 5.26 crore in the ECI-linked SSR draft. The latest figure sits between the two, but does not settle the central question: why official rolls for the same state show such wide variation.

According to Chief Electoral Officer Naveen Mahajan, the SSR draft has 2,75,24,780 male voters, 2,51,42,052 female voters and 584 transgender voters. The qualifying date for the revision is Jan 1, 2027. EC has opened claims and objections from Nov 12 to Dec 11. The final roll will be published on Jan 4, 2027.

The difference between SIR and SSR is critical to understanding the numbers. SIR is a deeper verification exercise in which booth-level officers conduct house-to-house enumeration. Existing voters are given pre-filled forms and are required to submit them for their names to be considered in the revised roll. SSR begins with the last published final roll. Existing voters are generally carried forward and not required to prove eligibility afresh merely to retain their names. The exercise is meant to update the roll through additions, deletions and corrections.

This difference in method explains why a draft SSR roll may not mirror a final SIR roll. But the wider problem is the coexistence of sharply different official numbers. The SSR draft is around 11 lakh higher than the final SIR roll, yet around 18 lakh lower than the SEC's early-Oct roll. The draft rolls have been shared with recognised political parties and uploaded on the CEO website. Voters can seek inclusion, deletion or correction through the prescribed forms before the final roll is frozen in January.

Mahajan urged eligible citizens to verify their names in the draft roll and apply for inclusion if their names are missing. Those completing 18 years by Jan 1, 2027, can apply for enrolment. Young citizens turning 18 by Oct 1, 2027, can also submit advance applications.