‘2.20 lakh people in Goa couldn’t be mapped to 2002 electoral roll’
Panaji : Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Goa, Sanjay Goel on Sunday said that 1,787 people have been identified as duplicate voters in the state who are among 90,000 electors marked as ‘absent, shifted, dead or duplicate’.
Addressing a press conference, CEO said, “96.5 per cent of enumeration forms have been digitised, with 10,55,000 out of 11,85,000 forms already returned. Of these, 90,000 voters have been marked as absent, shifted, dead or duplicate’, bringing the total processed forms to 11,45,000.”
The names of voters who were found ‘absent, shifted, dead or duplicate’ during BLO visits will be published online and on notice boards across public offices. These voters may file Form 6 with the required declaration if they believe their exclusion was incorrect. Verified applicants will find their names in the final roll, Goel said.
Officials said booth level officers and assistant electoral registration officers are rechecking forms, and that the Election Commission has allowed rollback in cases of incorrect ASDD marking or mapping errors.
The mapping of an elector in one state’s SIR automatically prevents mapping in any other state. For instance, if a person is mapped in 2002 records in Goa, then the same voter cannot be mapped later in Delhi or elsewhere.
Goa’s neighbouring states, Karnataka and Maharashtra, are not currently undergoing the SIR exercise.
But once they do, voters mapped in Goa will not be mapped again in the rolls of those states.
He explained that from among the returned forms, 2,20,000 voters could not be mapped to the 2002 electoral roll of Goa or other states. Their names will appear in the draft electoral roll, but they will receive notices to prove linkage to the 2002 roll or submit any of the 13 approved documents during electoral registration officer hearings.
Based on verification, the ERO will decide their inclusion in the final roll.
Goel said that under sections 15, 17, 18 and 19 of the Representation of the People Act, a voter cannot be registered in more than one constituency. Holding multiple registrations is a criminal offence punishable with one year’s imprisonment.
Only 40,000 forms remain pending, and voters are being asked to submit them immediately to enable the publication of the draft electoral roll, which will be released on December 16. Mapping notices will be issued later this month.
Those whose names appear in the draft roll but lack mapping must attend hearings and provide necessary documents to secure their inclusion in the final roll.
The CEO also said that 88 OCI cardholders are validly registered and eligible to vote under special Election Commission provisions.
Voters who have taken foreign citizenship, such as Portuguese passport holders, are not eligible for voting.
Since there is no automatic mechanism to detect surrendered Indian passports, the process relies on truthful declarations and subsequent complaints.
Any voter left out after the final electoral roll may appeal to CEO or the district collector within 30 days, and subsequently can move to the Election Commission.
Goel clarified that the ongoing process has no connection to the zilla panchayat elections to be held on December 20. Voters listed for the ZP polls can vote irrespective of their SIR notice status.
Forms are available in English, Konkani. Assistance is provided through BLOs and helpdesks. Women updating their names after marriage and voters shifting constituencies must use Form 6 or Form 8 with the required documents, Goel said.
Support staff have been deployed in areas where BLO workload is heavy, CEO said.
