Bhubaneswar: Chief Electoral Officer RS Gopalan said that as part of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls, more than 45,000 booth-level officers in Odisha went door-to-door on Saturday to conduct a massive survey.
Gopalan said that the work began from the holy land of Lord Jagannath in Puri, with 45,255 BLOs working in all 147 assembly constituencies of the state for the survey, which will run from May 30 to June 28. He told reporters, “About 75 percent of voters only need to sign the required forms, and no documents are required for the SIR. No genuine citizen will face any difficulty during the SIR.”
The CEO said that the BLOs have done a great job, as about 95 percent of voters have been mapped from the 2002 electoral roll, when the SIR was last conducted in Odisha.
Gopalan said, “I also request people not to pay attention to baseless rumors (about the SIR exercise). We will ensure that the process is completed as per the rules and peacefully.”
He said that due to the ongoing heat wave in the state, BLOs will conduct door-to-door surveys every day before 11 a.m. and will be present at the booths from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
The CEO said that officials will distribute counting forms, help people fill them out, and collect completed forms.
Each form contains personal details, family information, and information from the 2002 electoral roll. He said that BLOs will verify entries and correct minor errors during the door-to-door survey.
Gopalan said that BLOs have been instructed to ensure that no eligible voters are excluded and no ineligible voters are added.
He said the draft electoral roll will be published on July 5 and the final list will be released on September 6.
