Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) has instructed all Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) to immediately stop indiscriminate deletions of voters and enforce rigorous verification procedures.
The move comes amid widespread complaints that eligible voters’ names were erroneously struck off during electoral mapping from January to March, before the Odisha leg of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
A letter issued by Additional Chief Electoral Officer-cum-Special Secretary Sushanta Kumar Mishra to the EROs stated that nearly 9.8 lakh names have already been shortlisted for deletion since the commencement of the elector mapping process, a notable spike from the typical annual figure of around seven lakh removals, which are usually attributed to deaths, migration, duplication, or other standard reasons.
Earlier, in March, Chief Minister Mohan Majhi had informed the Assembly that approximately 7.68 lakh names were deleted between June 2025 and March 22, 2026, as part of routine revisions to maintain accuracy in voter lists.
Several cases, however, have come to light where deletions allegedly occurred without field visits by booth level officers (BLO) and adequate verification, prompting concerns among voters and political observers about potential disenfranchisement ahead of future elections.
In response, the CEO office has placed nearly two lakh Form-7 applications (objection form for proposed inclusion/deletion of name in existing roll) received after April 2 on hold to prevent further hasty actions.
“We have asked all the EROs to undertake proper verification before deleting the names from the electoral rolls,” Odisha Chief Electoral Officer R S Gopalan told reporters, adding that the BLOs have submitted their reports on absent voters.
He clarified that BLOs are not authorised to delete names from the electoral rolls.
To address public concerns, the CEO’s office has activated a toll-free helpline (1950) for voters to check their status, raise issues, or seek assistance.
