The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Odisha’s electoral rolls is officially over. Chief Electoral Officer S Gopalan said the final roll was published on Monday, revealing that 20.56 lakh electors were deleted from the register. The exercise began on May 30, 2026, when the state had 3,13,99,000 voters on its books.
The deletions were not arbitrary. Gopalan broke down the first phase, where 20,12,000 voters were removed. Of those, 8,32,000 were deceased, 8,08,000 had permanently shifted, 2 lakh were absent, and 1.58 lakh were duplicates. It’s a tedious, paper-pushing process. But it ensures the roll reflects reality, not just data from a decade ago.
Then came the verification phase. The draft roll, published on July 5, 2026, listed 3,13,87,034 voters. But the team couldn’t map 13 lakh voters from the 2002 roll and found logical errors in 45,37,000 entries. Notices went out to 58,36,000 voters. After hearings, 24,000 were found ineligible and removed. Another 20,000 were deleted based on Form 7 objections. That’s 44,777 more deletions after the draft.
Not everyone was cut. The roll actually grew. Officials received 2,74,000 Form 6 applications and 16,000 Form 8 applications. They added 2,90,000 eligible voters. So the final count is 3,16,32,754. That’s 1,61,30,000 men, 1,54,99,000 women, and 2,774 third-gender electors. Gopalan called the 6 percent deletion rate “very little,” citing the quality of the original rolls.
The SIR is done, but the work isn’t. Continuous updating is back in play. Voters can now apply to add names, make corrections, or remove entries using Forms 6, 7, or 8. They can submit these online or hand them to their Booth Level Officer. The next major electoral test will determine if this cleanup holds up under scrutiny.