Odisha to Begin Door-to-Door Voter Verification on October 26

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha State Election Commission will conduct a household voter survey from October 26 to November 7 to update electoral rolls ahead of the 2027 panchayat and urban local body elections.

State Election Commissioner Madhusudan Padhi announced that draft voter lists will be published on January 1, 2027, followed by the final rolls on February 10. Voters will have 20 days to submit claims and objections.

The drive aims to remove names of deceased and relocated voters, add eligible voters left out of the lists, correct errors and ensure family members are assigned to the appropriate ward and polling booth. A pilot survey across all 30 districts found that 7.61% of listed voters were deceased or had migrated, while 4.87% of eligible voters were missing from the rolls.

Around 45,200 teams, comprising two to three members each, will visit households to verify details. Each household will receive a unique house number linked to its voters. The commission has also urged political parties to appoint Booth Level Agents (BLAs) to support the process.