Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: Election authorities in Goa have received 1,730 applications seeking inclusion of names in the state’s electoral rolls as part of the ongoing second phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), officials said on Thursday.
According to a bulletin released by the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Goa, the applications were submitted by eligible voters through Form 6 and Form 6A. The bulletin also noted that 131 requests for deletion of names from the rolls have been filed using Form 7.
The Special Intensive Revision process, which commenced on November 4 last year, has already led to significant changes in the electoral database. When the draft electoral rolls were published last month, the Election Commission of India (ECI) removed 1,00,042 entries after verification revealed that the individuals were either deceased, untraceable, or had permanently relocated to other states.
In addition, around 1.82 lakh voters were categorised as “unmapped” because their parents or close relatives could not be linked to the electoral rolls prepared in 2002, the year the previous SIR exercise was carried out.
Authorities are now issuing notices to these unmapped voters and conducting individual hearings before Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) or Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs). During these proceedings, voters are required to establish their citizenship by submitting any one of the 13 documents prescribed by the ECI.
The second phase of hearings and acceptance of claims will continue until January 15. The final electoral rolls are scheduled to be published on February 20.
