Parties urge Election Commission to clarify process as SIR begins from November 4
PANAJI
Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Goa, Sanjay Goel, IAS, is set to launch the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls across the State from November 4. While the exercise aims to update and verify voter records ahead of upcoming elections, it has sparked significant concern among political parties and civil society groups – particularly over the inclusion and verification of Non-Resident Indian (NRI) voters.
According to estimates, NRI names constitute nearly 20–25 per cent of the electoral rolls in Goa, raising questions about how the Election Commission of India (ECI) plans to verify these entries, especially when many of these voters reside abroad and are unlikely to be present during the door-to-door verification process.
The SIR exercise, to be conducted by Returning Officers, Assistant Returning Officers, and Block Level Officers, will run until December 4. The draft rolls will be published on December 8, with the final list expected by February 7, 2026.
President of the Goa Pradesh Congress Committee, Amit Patkar raised red flags saying “SIR will be an extremely difficult exercise for NRI voters to adhere to.”
“The Congress is in the process of appointing Booth Level Agents (BLAs) in maximum booths across Goa. We will keep a close watch on the process. We will also take up this predicament related to NRI voters with the CEO and the Election Commission,” Patkar said.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) general secretary, Surel Tilve, expressed frustration over the lack of clarity on the issue from the election authorities.
“I raised this issue in the meeting with the Goa CEO and was informed that they have received no instructions related to the intensive revision of NRI voters’ names in the rolls,” Tilve said.
“This SIR exercise will begin in another 4 or 5 days and there is no chance that NRI voters who are abroad can be present at home. The ECI should come up with some way out and issue instructions to its officials who should be given proper publicity,” Tilve said.
While Goel has assured that the process will be conducted with “utmost diligence,” the absence of a clear mechanism for verifying overseas voters has left many stakeholders uneasy.
Civil society groups have echoed the call for transparency and urged the ECI to issue detailed guidelines to ensure that the revision process is both fair and credible.
With the SIR exercise just days away, the spotlight remains firmly on how the electoral machinery will address these concerns and uphold the integrity of Goa’s voter rolls.
