The present paper proposes a new type of an electro-rheological squeeze film damper (ER SFD) of which the damping capacity can be controlled by the application of electric field. The new ER .SFD- is sealed with slotted rings having electrodes at the inside of the constant gap. The ER SFD can provent the problem of electric short which might be occurred in a previous ER SFD. Reynolds lubrication equation for a Newtonian fluid and the end leakage equation for ER fluids are numerically solved to get the pressure distributions and the damping coefficients of the ER SFD. The results show that the damping coefficients greatly increase with increasing the yield shear stress of ER fluid. In addition, the unbalance response analysis of a flexible rotor supported on the new ER SFD implies that the rotor system can be operated with the minimum of rotor amplitude and force transmissibility by controlling the yield shear stress of ER fluids properly.