Amid complaints of wrongful deletions among the 9.8 lakh names removed from the electoral roll during the ongoing mapping process, Odisha Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) RS Gopalan has directed officials to ensure rigorous verification of applications before any further removal of names from the voter list, ahead of the crucial Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
Accordingly, the CEO, Odisha, has put the scrutiny of approximately 2 lakh Form-7 applications, received after April 2, 2026, on hold.
This move comes following multiple complaints regarding the wrongful deletion of names from the electoral roll.
The office of the CEO Odisha has pointed out that approximately 9.8 lakh deletions have been carried out by the Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) since the commencement of the elector mapping process. However, a substantial number of complaints have been received regarding wrongful deletions, including cases where electors were found to be present and instances where Booth Level Officers (BLOs) had neither conducted field visits nor carried out proper verification prior to deletion.
Considering the seriousness of the matter, the CEO Odisha’s office has now directed all EROs in the state to ensure that no name is removed without proper verification.
Issuing directions to the EROs in this regard, Additional Chief Electoral Officer Sushanta Kumar Mishra has stated that the names of deceased voters should be deleted only after thorough verification of Form-7 applications, which must be submitted by family members or close relatives.
Besides, notices will be sent to the last known address of the electors prior to the deletion of their names from the electoral roll.
The CEO Odisha has also directed proper verification of cases involving suspicious, duplicate, or erroneous entries through due process.
Accordingly, the EROs have been asked to carefully verify all demographically similar entries (DSE) and send notices to the concerned electors in cases of suspected duplicates or doubtful matches.
The CEO has made it mandatory to carry out physical verification in at least 50 per cent of Form-7 cases.
The Additional CEO’s letter further stated that all complaints related to wrongful deletion, received through email, the 1950 Call Centre, NGRS or any other mode, shall be mandatorily and thoroughly inquired into by the EROs.
In cases where Form-7 applications are under process and deletion has not yet been effected, the applications shall be rolled back through the DEO login, while in the cases where deletion has already been carried out wrongfully, the elector shall be re-enrolled immediately with due diligence and care.
Upon completion of the above verification process, the EROs will also be required to furnish a written certificate confirming that at least 50 per cent of the cases have been physically verified and that all prescribed procedures have been duly followed prior to deletion.