In a major clean-up of Goa's electoral rolls, the state's election authorities have omitted a staggering 1,00,042 names of voters classified as absent, shifted, dead, or duplicate. The deletions were part of a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, with the draft electoral roll being released on Tuesday.
Vasco Tops the List for Voter Deletions
The Vasco constituency recorded the highest number of deletions under the ASDD (Absent, Shifted, Dead, Duplicate) category. It was found to have the most significant number of electors who were absent or had permanently shifted from the area. Following Vasco, the constituencies with notable deletions were Cortalim, Fatorda, Santa Cruz, Taleigao, Margao, and Panaji.
Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Sanjay Goel explained the high numbers in Vasco and Cortalim. He attributed it primarily to the transient industrial migrant workforce prevalent in these areas. "Migration is very high in both these constituencies. They (migrant workers) stay for a few months and subsequently, somebody else is hired. Workers then return to their respective native villages and don't return," Goel said. He added that their names remained on the list earlier because booth-level officers could not locate them to confirm their status.
Breakdown of the 1 Lakh Deleted Voters
The SIR exercise provided a detailed breakdown of why the 1,00,042 names were removed from the voter list:
- 29,729 electors were untraceable and absent.
- 40,469 voters had permanently shifted from their registered address.
- 25,574 names were deleted as these voters were found to have died.
- 1,997 individuals were dropped for being enrolled elsewhere (duplicates).
- 2,273 voters were placed in an 'others' category for not returning forms during the enumeration drive.
On the other end of the spectrum, Sanguem constituency logged the fewest deletions. It was followed by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant's constituency of Sanquelim, and then by Bicholim, Mandrem, Priol, Poriem, and Mayem. Region-wise, South Goa saw 10,764 more deletions than North Goa.
Opportunity for Inclusion and Action on Foreign Passport Holders
CEO Sanjay Goel clarified that genuine electors can still be added to the rolls during the claims and objections period, which runs from December 16 to January 15. During this window, any elector or political party can file claims for inclusion or objections for deletion. Individuals seeking to register can submit Form 6. Goel assured that every claim would be processed, and eligible names would appear in the final electoral roll, which is scheduled for publication on February 14.
In a related development, the CEO's office is scrutinizing 8,459 names of foreign passport holders—a majority of them Portuguese—who surrendered their Indian citizenship between 2020 and 2025. "We are using AI to segregate names constituency-wise," Goel stated. Once the data is shared with Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), suo motu notices will be issued to those who filled out enumeration forms despite having surrendered their Indian passports.
However, Goel clarified that they only have information on those who formally surrendered their Indian passports, not on those who may have acquired Portuguese passports without completing that surrender process.
The process of issuing notices and conducting hearings for over 1.8 lakh electors not mapped in the 2002 SIR will continue until February 7. Those unable to attend hearings in person can send documentation via a family member with an authorization letter, after which the EROs will make a final decision.
