Odisha's final voter roll: 3.16 crore electors, 17.66 lakh names struck off

Odisha's final electoral roll, published on Monday, September 21, 2026, lists 3,16,32,754 voters — a decrease of 17,66,837 from the number recorded before the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), according to the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO).

Chief Electoral Officer R.S. Gopalan said the final roll comprises 1,61,30,319 male voters, 1,54,99,661 female voters and 2,774 third gender voters.

The State had 3,33,99,591 electors as on July 17, 2026, when the revision began. The Special Intensive Revision is a process in which the details of electors already on the rolls are verified afresh through enumeration. Under it, Booth Level Officers (BLOs) distributed enumeration forms to every existing elector.

Mr. Gopalan said 3,13,87,034 enumeration forms, or 93.97% of those issued, were returned. The remaining 20,12,557 electors, or 6.03%, did not return their forms and were left out of the draft electoral roll.

Among those excluded from the draft roll, 8,32,544 were found to have died, 8,08,205 had shifted out of their booths, 1,58,118 were duplicate entries and 1,99,249 were recorded as absent, the CEO's office said. The CEO's figures indicate that the draft roll contained 3,13,87,034 electors, the same as the number of enumeration forms returned.

During the claims and objections period from July 5 to August 19, 2026, a total of 2,55,996 claims and objections were received and processed for the final roll. Forms received before July 5 were also processed. After hearings, 24,070 electors were found ineligible, and 20,707 names were deleted following objections received on Form 7, the prescribed form for seeking a change to an entry on the roll.

Following the disposal of claims, objections and other eligible applications, 2,90,497 electors were added and 44,777 were deleted from the draft roll. This works out to a net addition of 2,45,720 to the draft roll, taking the total in the final roll to 3,16,32,754, Mr. Gopalan said.

The revision therefore reduced the State's elector base by 17,66,837 names compared with the pre-revision figure. A large part of that reduction is accounted for by electors who were not traced during enumeration, including those recorded as dead or as having moved away from their polling booths.

Revisions of this kind are intended to keep the electoral roll current by removing entries of electors who have died, moved away or been duplicated, and by adding those who have become eligible or were left out. The claims and objections stage allows an elector whose name does not appear on the roll, or who objects to another entry, to have the case heard before the final list is published.

The revision was carried out under the directions of the Election Commission of India. The final roll, once published, is the basis for any election held in the State until it is revised again.