Bhubaneswar: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday announced the schedule of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) Phase-III of electoral rolls in Odisha, aiming to ensure a clean, updated and error-free voter database ahead of upcoming electoral exercises. The drive will involve active participation from electors, political parties and election officials.Odisha has 3.34 crore electors. The revision exercise will be conducted simultaneously in 16 states and three Union Territories. The schedule has been aligned with the ongoing house-listing phase of the national census, officials said.Preparatory work, including training and printing, will be carried out between May 20 and May 29. Booth-level officers (BLOs) will then visit households from May 30 to June 28 for field verification. In parallel, rationalisation of polling stations will also be completed by June 28 to improve accessibility for voters.The draft electoral roll will be published on July 5, after which citizens can submit claims and objections till Aug 4. The disposal of claims and objections will continue until Sept 2, and the final electoral roll is scheduled to be published on Sept 6, official sources said.As part of the extensive exercise, around 38,123 BLOs will conduct door-to-door visits across the state to verify voter details. Supporting them will be 27,723 booth-level agents (BLAs) nominated by various political parties to ensure transparency and accuracy in the process.To maintain impartiality, the ECI has urged all recognised political parties to appoint at least one BLA in each polling booth.In the earlier phases of SIR, data of nearly 590 million voters across 13 states and Union Territories was revised, with over 6.3 lakh BLOs and 9.2 lakh BLAs deployed.Officials said the exercise is crucial to strengthen the integrity of the electoral process and enhance voter confidence.
