Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Sanjay Goel on Sunday announced that nearly 90,000 names will be removed from the first draft electoral roll as the Special Intensive Revi sion (SIR) process enters its final stage. Addressing a press con ference, Goel said these names were identified as ‘dead, shifted, absent, or duplicate’ during the ver ification exercise. Goel said that voters who wish to correct discrep ancies may do so once the draft roll is released on December 9. He also revealed that around 2.20 lakh vot ers could not be matched with the 2002 SIR records because their parents’ names were not traceable. While these names will still appear in the draft roll, the affected individuals will be required to prove their Indian citizenship by sub mitting documents linked to their parents’ 2002 SIR records or other docu ments prescribed by theCEO’s office. Their inclusion in the draft roll is temporary, pending verification. To address this issue, Goel said that notices will be is sued to all affected voters, informing them of the date, time and venue of a sched uled hearing. During the hearing, they will be required to submit either previous voter roll entries or one of the 13 approved documents mandated by the Election Commission of India to estab lish citizenship. After the ver ification hearings, authorities will determine whether these names should remain in the final voter list. Officials clarified that the 2.2 lakh unmapped voters will appear in the draft roll.
However they must prove their eligibility during verifi cation to retain their names. Goel added that if these voters appear in the Zilla Panchayat (ZP) voters list, they will re main eligible to vote in the upcoming ZP elections. Providing an update on the digitisation effort, the CEO said that 96.5% of enumeration forms have already been digitised. Of the 11.85 lakh voters, the office has received 10.55 lakh forms, with only 40,000 still pending. The last date for submission of enumeration forms is December 4, after which claims and objections can be filed from Decem ber 9, 2025, to January 8, 2026. On the issue of citizenship, Goel clarified that 88 OCI cardholders currently registered in Goa are eligible to vote as they remain Indian citizens. However, individuals who have acquired a Portuguese passport automatically forfeit Indian citizenship and cannot continue as voters. He em phasised that failing to declare foreign citizenship consti tutes a criminal offence, though the Election Commission does not yet have a mechanism to independently detect such cases. Goel urged anyone who has obtained a foreign passport to voluntarily declare their change of citizenship to avoid legal consequences. However, reacting to the announcements, Santa Cruz Block Congress President John Nazareth said, “After watch ing how the names of genuine live voters were deleted and a large number of bogus voters were added in Bihar, people have apprehension that their names may be deleted under the pretext of ‘dead, shifted, absent or duplicate voters’. Though the SIR appears to be a good exercise on the face of it, people by and large have realised that the political party in power with the Chief Election Commissioner who is always ready to help the BJP to gain control throughout the country, it looks like it’s an unwanted exercise to de lete the voters who are expected to vote for the opposition parties.” Social activist Sanjay Barde said, “When BLOs are visit ing houses and they do not find people, then it should be mentioned during enumeration, and not deleted directly. We still have more than a year for the assembly elections in the State. So why is there a hurry?” Barde said, “Those who had voted in 2002 and had voter cards, they have every right to vote in future as well. Ques tion is why should the names of those who voted in 2014 and brought this BJP government to power be removed from the voters’ list. It was not only in 2014, but in 2019 and 2024 too. It is okay if you delete the names of those who are migrants as they may have two voter cards but why delete the names of Goans?” “If any Goan has gone abroad and is not available now, what will happen when he comes back in future? Now what will happen is that names of those who do not vote for BJP will be deleted in the name of SIR. Therefore, I think at least a time frame of two to three more months should be given for SIR in Goa,” he added. Advocate CleofatoCoutinho said, “Goa is a State with high migration rate. The NRIs are normally out. Care must be taken so they do not lose their voting rights. The Catholic community could become victims of this exercise if care is not taken.” Social activist Cecille Rodrigues said, “We are deeply con cerned by the recent declaration that nearly 90,000 names will be removed from the draft electoral roll under the Spe cial Intensive Revision (SIR) process. While we appreciate efforts to clean up the voter registry, labelling citizens as ‘dead, shifted, absent, or duplicate’ without providing a clear, accessible appeal mechanism is troubling.” “Many eligible voters may have missed the verification window due to work commitments, health issues, or other legitimate reasons. Deleting their names on the basis of ‘ab sence’ risks disenfranchising law-abiding citizens and un dermines the democratic principle of universal suffrage,” she said. “We call on the Chief Electoral Officer to publish the de tailed criteria used to classify a voter as ‘absent’, ensure every affected individual receives a written notice and a straightforward process to reinstate their name and extend the verification period to allow those who missed the ini tial window to confirm their status,” Cecille said. “The electorate deserves transparency, fairness, and the opportunity to correct any errors. We urge the election of fice to act swiftly to protect every citizen’s right to vote,” she added. AITC national spokesperson TrajanoD’Mello said, “From the very outset, we have maintained that the SIR exercise appears to be a BJP-driven manoeuvre aimed at removing voters who are unlikely to support the party. In Goa, there is growing concern that minority communities may be dis proportionately targeted. To address these fears and en sure transparency, the CEO must publish the list of names proposed for deletion. This will allow all political parties and individuals to verify whether the removals are legiti mate—or whether this is yet another case of ‘selective in visible rigging’?
