‘Submit Form 6 to seek inclusion’
Panaji: Many of the 97 voters whose names could not be restored before the publication of Goa’s final electoral roll have since been included in the roll, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Sanjay Goel said on Thursday.
Goel said voters whose names are still missing will have to submit Form 6 to seek inclusion in the electoral roll.
The 97 cases came to light after electoral registration officers (EROs) initially marked some voters as ineligible for failing to appear at hearings or produce the required documents. When polling station-wise lists were subsequently displayed, some of the affected voters submitted the required documents, Goel said.
“We had flagged 97 such cases and published the final roll,” he said.
The CEO said officials had sought to restore the names of the affected voters before publication of the final roll.
However, a rollback could not be carried out amid changes to the Election Commission’s software and the introduction of new modules.
“There were changes in the software and new modules were being introduced, with changes being made almost every day,” Goel said.
As a precaution, officials asked the affected voters to submit Form 6. Goel said subsequent verification found that many of the voters had already been included in the electoral rolls through the Form 6 process.
“Form 6 was their only remaining option. The option of appeal had lapsed because it could be exercised only within 30 days,” he said.
The office of the Chief Electoral Officer has clarified that 97 cases that were not included in the final electoral roll published in February 2026 are being processed separately.
According to a press note issued by the CEO’s office on Thursday, the cases were processed through house-to-house visits by booth level officers for completion of Form 6, which is used for applications for inclusion in the electoral roll.
The office said that many of the applicants have since been enrolled, while the remaining cases are still being processed.
The CEO’s office reiterated that no eligible elector will be left out of the electoral roll.
The clarification came a day after a news report by The Indian Express highlighted the omission of 97 verified and eligible voters during the special intensive revision of the electoral rolls. Of the 97 cases, 65 were reportedly from Taleigao.
The report said the EROs concerned had verified the voters and confirmed their eligibility, but the centralised software did not have a rollback facility to restore their names.
Despite urgent requests from the Goa CEO, the technical intervention could not be completed before the final roll was published.
The cases had raised concerns over the exclusion of eligible voters from the electoral roll and the potential impact on their ability to exercise their franchise.
