Explained: 'D-Voters' In Assam's Special Summary Revision Before Elections

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced a special summary revision (SR) of electoral rolls in Assam, separate from the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) exercise whose groundwork is set in 12 other states.

The revision process in Assam will begin on November 22 with booth-level officers (BLOs) conducting home-to-home verification. The draft electoral roll will be published on 27 December, and after the claims and objections period, the final voter list will be released on February 10, 2026.

The Assam assembly election is scheduled in April 2026.

Unlike SIR, this special revision will not involve distribution of new enumeration forms to voters. Instead, BLOs will be provided pre-filled registers containing details of all existing electors in their respective polling areas.

During field visits, the BLOs will verify existing entries and record cases of duplicates, dead voters, and permanently shifted electors. They will also accept Form 6 applications for new voters and Form 7 for deletion or transfer, along with Form 8 for corrections.

As per EC directions, each BLO must carry at least 30 blank Form 6 and 20 blank Form 7 and 8 during field work to ensure on-spot facilitation for citizens.

D-Voters Will Not Be Updated

One of the most crucial aspects of the order is that "D-voters" (doubtful voters) will continue unchanged in the electoral roll. The Election Commission has instructed that the details of D-voters should not be included during home-to-home verification. Instead, the names already marked as "D" will be carried forward as-is in the draft electoral roll.

Any change in a D-voter's status including deletion or removal of the "D" tag can only take place after a foreigners tribunal or court issues an order.

Assam remains the only state in India with the "D-voter" category in its electoral rolls, a system that has existed since 1997.

Who Are D-Voters

The concept of "D-voters" originates from the Assam Accord of 1985, under which the Indian government decided that any individual entering Assam illegally after March 24, 1971 would be treated as a foreigner.

In 1997, the Election Commission marked nearly three lakh voters as "D" (doubtful) while updating Assam's electoral rolls. These were people whose citizenship status was questionable. Cases were referred to foreigners tribunals, where individuals were asked to prove their Indian nationality through documents like birth certificates, land records, and legacy data.

The process continues to this day. According to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, the state currently has around 96,987 D-voters.

Why It Matters

The continuation of the D-voter status in the upcoming revision means that nearly one lakh Assam residents will remain disenfranchised, unless they receive clearance from a tribunal or court. The issue is deeply linked with Assam's long history of migration, identity politics, and citizenship verification including the National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise.

As the special summary revision proceeds, non-D voters will see updates and corrections, but D-voters will have to continue waiting for legal clearance before they regain voting rights.

Sources at the Election Commission said Assam will not hold SIR because of the NRC process.