Bhubaneswar: The final decision on claims and objections filed during the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Odisha will be completed by September 17, with the final voter list scheduled for publication on September 21, according to an official statement from the office of the state’s Chief Electoral Officer.
The deadline for submitting claims and objections related to registration and revision ended on Wednesday.
Till August 19, notices had been issued to 58.36 lakh electors. “Till now, a total of 3.09 crore eligible voters in the state have been considered for inclusion in the final voter list,” the statement said, noting that the figure could rise further as hearings continue. Officials clarified that electors who received notices but failed to provide the required valid certificates or accurate information would be removed from the rolls. The revision process has seen strong participation, particularly among young voters seeking inclusion. A total of 2.79 lakh people applied for new registration through Form-6. In addition, 53,625 applications were received via Form-7 concerning duplicate entries or deletion of names of deceased persons, while “as many as 1.97 lakh voters have applied through Form-8 for the names of all members of a family to be put together in one polling station, along with the name, address, age or other corrections in the voter list,” the statement added.
Chief Electoral Officer R S Gopalan directed officials to ensure that no eligible citizen is left out and that no ineligible name remains on the rolls. “The final list, which will be published on September 21, is expected to make the upcoming election process cleaner and stronger,” Gopalan said.
The opposition Biju Janata Dal, however, submitted a memorandum to the CEO seeking a further one-month extension of the claims and objections phase in light of the ongoing flood situation across the state. “Under these circumstances, it has become extremely difficult for electoral officials, voters and booth-level agents to complete the verification and file claims and objections within the existing timeline,” BJD senior vice president Debi Prasad Mishra said, emphasising that such an extension was essential for preparing a transparent and impartial electoral roll.
The party noted that the original deadline of August 4 had already been extended by the Election Commission of India to August 19, but argued that continuing heavy rainfall, flooding, waterlogging and disruption of communications made compliance impractical for many electors.