Over 20 lakh names deleted as Odisha begins second phase of electoral roll verification

Bhubaneswar: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has intensified the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll in Odisha, with more than 58 lakh electors identified for verification and over 20 lakh names removed from the draft voters’ list as part of the ongoing exercise to improve the accuracy of electoral records.

Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) R.S. Gopalan said the revision entered its second phase after the publication of the draft electoral roll on July 5. Electors can file claims, objections and correction requests through Forms 6, 6A, 7 and 8 till August 4, while the final electoral roll will be published on September 6.

The draft electoral roll now contains around 3.13 crore voters following the deletion of 20,12,577 names during the verification process.

According to the CEO, 58,36,341 electors have been identified for further verification. Of these, nearly 12 lakh voters could not be linked with the 2002 electoral roll, while about 46 lakh have discrepancies in their SIR forms that require correction. Notices have been issued to these voters, with over 57.98 lakh notices generated and nearly 7.93 lakh already delivered.

Gopalan said voters who receive notices should submit the required documents to their respective Booth Level Officers (BLOs). In most cases, electors will not be required to appear personally once the documents are furnished.

To make the process more accessible, special arrangements have been made for senior citizens, Persons with Disabilities (PwDs), sick and infirm persons, and people living in remote areas. BLOs will collect documents from their residences wherever necessary.

Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs) have started issuing notices to electors whose records contain discrepancies or do not match the 2002 electoral roll. Hearings are being conducted physically as well as through video conferencing wherever feasible.

The CEO said the revision exercise is being carried out by 147 Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), 994 AEROs and 45,250 BLOs across the state. Around 400 additional AEROs are also being appointed to speed up the process.

Since the draft roll was published, the Election Commission has received 26,745 applications under Form-6, about 22,000 under Form-8 and 2,187 under Form-7. So far, 1,42,111 hearings have been completed.

Gopalan appealed to voters to verify their details in the draft electoral roll and submit any claims or corrections through BLOs, the Voters’ Service Portal or the ECI NET App before the August 4 deadline, saying public participation is essential for preparing a clean, inclusive and error-free electoral roll.