The special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Odisha will begin from April 1, chief electoral officer (CEO) R.S. Gopalan said on Friday.
Addressing a news conference here, Gopalan said: “All work for the beginning of SIR is nearly complete. The exercise is now focused on identification and mapping of voters. So far, 90 per cent of voters have already been covered under the mapping exercise. We are now targeting the remaining 10 per cent of voters whose identities are yet to be ascertained. The baseline for the identification process is the 2002 voter list.”
The announcement coincided with Union home minister Amit Shah’s one-day visit to the state. However, the CEO categorically denied any connection between the timing of the press conference and Shah’s visit. “We are carrying out this exercise strictly in line with the guidelines of the Election Commission of India,” Gopalan said.
According to the final roll of 2024, Odisha has 3.32 crore voters, including 1.67 crore men and 1.64 crore women. Based on this data, if 10 per cent people are left out, nearly 33 lakh voters could be excluded from the revised voter list.
The CEO urged people to actively participate in the exercise by verifying their names and personal details as per the 2002 records.
