BHUBANESWAR: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday announced that Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voters list in Odisha and 15 other states and Union territories will commence from July 1.
In a press statement, it informed that the entire exercise will continue for over two months and final voters list after SIR will be published on September 6.
As part of the SIR of electoral rolls, around 38,123 booth-level officers (BLOs) will go door-to-door across Odisha to verify voter details. To assist the BLOs and ensure transparency, 8,391 booth-level agents (BLAs) have been appointed by various political parties in the state. Odisha has 3,34,33,659 electors as of May 12, 2026, spread over 147 Assembly constituencies. The BLOs will cover all 37,606 polling stations during the exercise. They will visit every household to verify existing electors, enrol new voters who have turned 18, delete names of deceased/shifted persons, and correct errors.
BLAs nominated by political parties will be present during field verification to assist, raise objections and ensure that no eligible voter is left out. After field work, a draft electoral roll will be published for claims and objections. Final rolls will be published after disposal, forming the base for coming elections in 2027.
The ECI stated that preparation and training of the BLOs and BLAs will be completed between May 20 and May 29. This will be followed by house-to-house visits by the BLOs from May 30 to June 28. While rationalisation of the polling stations will be completed by June 28, the draft electoral roll will be published on July 5.
Claims and objections can be filed between July 5 to August 4 while disposal of claims and objections will be simultaneously done between July 5 and September 2. The final voters list after the SIR exercise will be published on September 6.
The Election Commission noted that special attention will be given to tribal areas, urban slums, and colleges to enrol youth. Voluntary Aadhaar-EPIC linking will continue during the drive to remove duplicates.
Chief electoral officer (CEO) RS Gopalan said the burden on Odisha will be less since it has made significant progress in its electoral roll cleanup, achieving roughly 90 per cent to 95 per cent mapping of current voters with the 2002 electoral roll.
