Bhubaneswar: The special intensive revision of the electoral rolls in Odisha has entered its final stage, with the deadline for filing claims and objections ending on Wednesday, while the process of deciding the pending cases and completing the notice stage is scheduled to conclude by September 17.
According to the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, the final electoral roll will be published on September 21 after completion of hearings, verification and disposal of all claims and objections.
As part of the revision exercise, notices have so far been issued to 58,36,430 voters, of which 58,36,374 notices have been 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 present, 3,09,71,941 eligible voters have been considered for inclusion in the final electoral roll. As the hearing and verification process is still underway, the number is likely to increase after the remaining cases are disposed of, the CEO’s office said.
Names of voters who fail to furnish valid documents or provide correct information during the verification process will be deleted from the electoral roll, officials said.
The revision exercise has also witnessed significant participation from eligible new voters and young citizens. A total of 2,79,315 applications have been received through Form-6 for inclusion of names in the electoral roll.
Another 53,625 applications have been submitted through Form-7 for deletion of duplicate entries, including cases where a voter is registered at more than one place, as well as for removal of names of deceased persons.
For correction of details such as name, address and age, and for requests to keep members of the same family attached to a common polling station, 1,97,952 applications have been received through Form-8.
The detailed verification of applications and notices is continuing at the level of Assistant Electoral Registration Officers. Chief Electoral Officer R. S. Gopalan has directed officials to ensure that no eligible citizen is left out of the electoral roll while preventing the retention of ineligible names.
Meanwhile, Electoral Literacy Clubs (ELCs) have been made functional in educational institutions across the state to create awareness among first-time and young voters about the voter registration process. Debates, quizzes and poster-making competitions are also being organised as part of the electoral awareness campaign, with meritorious participants being recognised with prizes and certificates.
The final electoral roll, scheduled to be published on September 21, is expected to strengthen the transparency and credibility of the electoral process in the state, the CEO’s office said.
