Bhubaneswar, July 22: The Odisha State Election Commission (SEC) held a high-level review meeting on Tuesday with commissioners of all municipal corporations, district collectors, sub-collectors, and deputy collectors responsible for election work across the state.
This meeting aimed to expedite preparations for the three-tier panchayat and urban local body elections scheduled for 2027, ensuring they are conducted in a free, fair, and orderly manner.
Under the leadership of State Election Commissioner Madhusudan Padhi, key aspects related to the upcoming elections were discussed in detail with district collectors.
In a significant decision, the SEC announced that it will conduct a door-to-door survey to prepare booth-wise voter lists based on ground realities for the first time.
Padhi informed the media that the commission will undertake this survey to rectify the voter list. The survey is expected to be completed within the next three to four months. The process of removing duplicate names is under consideration. The commission has already conducted a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and will study this process to determine if the deduplication tool is necessary.
SEC Secretary Santosh Kumar Das stated that the survey will commence in the second week of October, following the publication of the final voter list in September after the completion of the ongoing SIR by the Election Commission of India (ECI).
The SEC reviewed the survey process, booth and ward delimitation, collection of claims and objections, digitization of survey data, and the timely completion of all scheduled activities.
The commission aims to publish the draft voter list by January 1, 2027, and the final list by February 10, 2027. Officials have been instructed to conduct the survey rigorously to modify and correct the list.
They were directed to ensure that no eligible citizen is excluded from the voter list; new applicants should be included while names of deceased, relocated, or otherwise ineligible voters should be removed.
Padhi emphasized the need to correct all errors in the list and publish a clean, error-free final voter list within the stipulated timeframe. Officials were instructed to make special efforts to ensure that all eligible family members are listed consecutively for the same polling booth.
District collectors were also advised to provide comprehensive training to all officials and staff deployed for election duty to ensure smooth conduct of the elections.
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