NEW DELHI, October 6 — The Election Commission of India (ECI), presided over by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar alongside Election Commissioners, on Tuesday notified the conclusive timeline for the Special Summary Revision (SSR) of electoral registers across Maharashtra and Jharkhand ahead of forthcoming legislative assembly general elections.
Pursuant to the statutory directive, eligible citizens who attain eighteen years of age on or before the qualifying threshold of October 1, 2026, are entitled to submit claims for inclusion in electoral rolls. The Commission operationalized digital submission modules on `voters.eci.gov.in` and the Voter Helpline Application, facilitating Form-6 (new elector enrollment), Form-7 (objection/deletion), and Form-8 (demographic modification and intra-constituency migration) processing.
The Commission mandated that District Election Officers (DEOs) across both states prioritize polling station rationalization to cap urban station densities at 1,500 voters, audit gender-parity ratios, and institutionalize optional postal home-voting facilities for octogenarian and benchmark-disabled electors under Section 60(c) of the Representation of the People Act. The finalized statutory electoral rolls will be formally published on October 18, 2026.
The constitutional powers of the Election Commission under Article 324, statutory electoral mechanisms under the Representation of the People Acts of 1950 and 1951, and model election governance are central topics in UPSC Civil Services (GS-II: Governance and Constitutional Bodies). Aspirants should note that Article 326 guarantees adult suffrage on the basis of universal equality, with the voting age formally reduced from 21 to 18 years via the 61st Constitutional Amendment Act of 1988.