Over 20 lakh names were deleted from the voter lists during the enumeration phase of the Special Intensive Revision in Odisha, coinciding with the Election Commission’s release of the draft electoral rolls on Sunday.
Odisha’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) R S Gopalan stated that the state’s total voter base stood at 3.33 crore when the electoral records were frozen on May 20.
Following a comprehensive door-to-door enumeration exercise under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) conducted from May 30 to June 28, the updated draft roll now counts 3.13 crore eligible voters, comprising 1.60 crore male, 1.53 crore female, and 2,775 third-gender citizens, he explained.
Breaking down the 20 lakh exclusions, the CEO further explained that 8.32 lakh listed individuals had passed away, 10.07 lakh had either migrated to other regions or were unavailable during the verification drive, and 1.58 lakh records were found registered as voters in multiple places.
Additionally, approximately 14,000 citizens failed to hand back their physical verification forms to the assigned booth-level officers (BLOs) during the active enumeration phase, the top official added.
“The voters, whose names were not there in the draft electoral roll, can submit their claim or objection either through the BLO or through the ECINET mobile app or voters.eci.gov.in,” Gopalan informed reporters at a press conference.
He further mapped out the timeline, stating that the public window for filing claims and contesting errors will remain open until August 4, paving the way for the official publication of the final electoral rolls on September 6.
“If someone’s name does not feature in the draft voter list, the person needs to fill up a form and submit it to poll authorities along with a declaration form and other documents,” the CEO said.
Claims and objections will be received from July 5 to August 4, during which a specialised team of 147 Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and 994 assistant EROs will scrutinise such cases by September 2.
To ensure a smooth transition, Gopalan noted that additional officers would be engaged as needed to handle and clear all claims and objections within the prescribed deadlines.
