Odisha SEC reviews preparations for 2027 local body polls
Bhubaneswar, July 21
The Odisha State Election Commission on Tuesday held a high‑level review meeting with commissioners of all municipal corporations, district collectors, sub‑collectors and deputy collectors in charge of election work from across the state as it stepped up preparations for the free, fair and orderly conduct of the 2027 three‑tier Panchayat and Urban Local Body elections.
The meeting, chaired by State Election Commissioner Madhusudan Padhi, included detailed discussions with district collectors on key aspects related to the conduct of the upcoming elections.
In a key decision, the SEC announced that, for the first time, it will conduct a door‑to‑door survey to prepare booth‑wise electoral rolls based on the actual ground situation.
Padhi told media persons: "We will do a door‑to‑door survey this time to clean the electoral roll. The survey will be completed within the next three to four months. The use of deduplication is under consideration. The Election Commission has already conducted the SIR. We will study the process, and if the use of the deduplication tool is found necessary, we will take an appropriate decision."
SEC Secretary Santosh Kumar Dash said the Commission will begin the survey in the second week of October after the Election Commission of India (ECI) publishes the final electoral roll in September following the completion of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
The SEC reviewed the survey process, the delimitation of booths and wards, the collection of claims and objections, the digitisation of survey data, and the timely completion of all scheduled activities.
The Commission has set a target to publish the draft electoral rolls on January 1, 2027, and the final rolls on February 10, 2027. Officials were instructed to carry out the survey rigorously to revise and purify the rolls.
They were directed to ensure that no eligible citizen is left out of the voter list by including new applicants while deleting the names of deceased, shifted or otherwise ineligible voters.
Padhi stressed the need to rectify all errors in the rolls and publish a clean and error‑free final voter list within the stipulated timeline.
Officials were instructed to make special efforts to ensure that the names of all eligible family members appear consecutively in the electoral roll 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 polls.
— IANS
Reader Comments
Finally, the SEC is taking concrete steps for clean electoral rolls! Door-to-door survey is a brilliant move. In my village, we still have names of people who moved away 10 years ago. I hope this time they actually remove duplicates and dead voters. Looking forward to error-free rolls for 2027. 👏
Good initiative, but I'm skeptical about the timeline. October 2024 to January 2027 for final rolls? That's almost 3 years. Meanwhile, elections in other states happen every 5 years without such long delays. Also, why not use Aadhaar linkage like ECI does? That would solve duplicate issues faster than a manual survey.
As someone who worked as a booth-level officer in 2022 panchayat polls, this is much needed. The current rolls are a mess—multiple entries for same person, wrong spellings, and my grandmother's name was missing entirely. Door-to-door survey will definitely help families like mine get proper registration. 👌
I appreciate the effort, but what guarantees that the door-to-door survey will be done properly? In rural Odisha, many families are still hesitant to share details with outsiders. Also, ensuring consecutive names for all eligible family members is easier said than done—what about married women who changed addresses? The devil is in the implementation.
This sounds like a solid administrative process. Back in the UK, we have annual canvassing to keep electoral rolls accurate. A booth-wise survey is a good step. I hope the SEC also uses technology for data digitization rather than just paper forms—that would make it more efficient and reduce errors. Good to see Odisha taking elections seriously! 🇮🇳
P Priya S Important step, We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.