Finance
The special intensive revision of the electoral records in Odisha has reached its final stage, with the time for registering claims and objections expiring on Wednesday, while the process of considering pending cases and completing the notice stage is set to end on September 17.
According to the Chief Electoral Officer’s office, the final electoral roll will be issued on September 21 once all claims and objections have been heard, verified, and resolved.
As part of the revision effort, notices have been issued to 58,36,430 voters, with 58,36,374 notices successfully served. Hearings of voters who received notices have been completed in a large number of cases, with 54,21,872 voters retained in the electoral roll following the process.
At the moment, 3,09,71,941 eligible voters have been considered for inclusion on the final electoral roll. As the hearing and verification process continues, the number is expected to rise after the remaining cases are resolved, according to the CEO’s office.
Officials stated that voters’ names will be removed from the electoral roll if they fail to produce legitimate documents or correct information during the verification procedure.
The revision effort has also received significant involvement from eligible new voters and young residents. Form-6 has received a total of 2,79,315 applications for the inclusion of names on the electoral roll.
Another 53,625 applications have been made via Form-7 for the removal of duplicate entries, including cases where a voter is registered in more than one location, as well as the removal of names of deceased individuals.
Form-8 has received 1,97,952 applications for corrections to details such as name, address, and age, as well as requests to maintain members of the same family assigned to a same polling station.
Assistant Electoral Registration Officers are currently conducting rigorous verifications of applications and notices. Chief Electoral Officer R. S. Gopalan has urged authorities to guarantee that no qualified person is left off the electoral record while also prohibiting the retention of ineligible names.
Meanwhile, Electoral Literacy Clubs (ELCs) have been established at educational institutions around the state to educate first-time and young voters on the voter registration procedure. Debates, quizzes, and poster-making competitions are also planned as part of the electoral awareness campaign, with outstanding participants receiving prizes and diplomas.
According to the CEO’s office, the final electoral roll, which is set to be issued on September 21, is intended to increase the transparency and legitimacy of the state’s electoral process.
