Goa CM to Seek Extension on Appeals Against Voter Deletions
Goa CM to Seek Extension on Appeals Against Voter Deletions
Goa's CM vows to push the EC for more time to challenge voter deletions during SIR, assuring no original Goan is erased.
Panaji — Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant told the Goa Legislative Assembly on Thursday that he would request the Election Commission to extend the deadline for filing appeals against voter name deletions during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. He added, “I want to assure that no original Goan will see his name deleted.”
He defended the process, saying the government’s aim is to ensure voters are at one place. But opposition leaders argued this was a mass exclusion exercise. The SIR in Goa has identified 100,042 names removed from the draft roll, about 8.44% of the electorate of 1,185,034. As of now, enumeration forms were collected from 1,084,992 electors, giving 91.56% coverage. The draft roll shows 25,574 as deceased, 72,471 as shifted or absent, and 1,997 as enrolled at multiple places.
Opposition leaders argued that non-collection of a form cannot legally mean shift or death, or that a voter is duplicate or ineligible. They noted that many students study outside the state and Goans work abroad, complicating the deletions. Sawant said the extension would provide a fair window for everyone to challenge deletions, and that the EC would consider the request. This move reflects ongoing sensitivities around voter rolls and the integrity of the revision process in Goa.
The government’s push comes as a response to concerns about the accuracy of the draft roll, and Sawant framed the extension as a step to protect genuine voters from being erased in the revision exercise.
