Overview
- The Election Commission published draft rolls on Sunday showing large deletions after the Special Intensive Revision, with Odisha reduced by about 20.14 lakh names, Sikkim omitting 37,724 entries and Manipur removing roughly 158,677 names.
- Voters whose names are missing can file claims or objections during the 30-day window that mostly runs from early July to August 4, and electoral officers must hear and dispose of cases ahead of scheduled final-roll dates such as Odisha’s September 6 and Jharkhand’s October 7.
- Political tensions rose immediately: the Biju Janata Dal said the Odisha draft actually excluded as many as 27 lakh people, NDA parties in Karnataka have alleged large procedural breaches and sought re-verification, and the Bharat Rashtra Samithi asked for a one-month extension in Telangana.
- Implementation has varied widely: Mizoram reported 100% digitisation of enumeration, Jharkhand said over one crore forms were distributed in the first week, and Telangana parties complained that digitisation and training lagged with only 19 lakh forms digitised by July 5.
- Election officials say legal safeguards exist—door‑to‑door verification, special camps, multiple ID options and formal hearings—but rights groups and local parties warn that documentary gaps, mapping errors and uneven training could leave poor, displaced or marginalised voters at risk of exclusion.