Election Commission asks Odisha to delete names of 345,000 deceased voters

The Election Commission (EC) asked Odisha's district collectors to focus on the special summary revision of electoral rolls, and ensure that names of 3.45 lakh deceased people are deleted from the voters' list, an official said.

The directions were issued on Wednesday at a meeting of an EC team that was attended by Chief Electoral Officer Nikunja Bihari Dhal, the collectors of all the 30 districts, revenue divisional commissioners (RDCs) and other senior officials.

It was mentioned in the meeting that names of "as many as 3.45 lakh deceased people were found in the voters' list".

"The EC team asked the collectors to take necessary action to make the list flawless," the official said.

The collectors were also asked to create awareness among people on the use of different apps for making corrections in the voters' list.

Though the meeting fuelled speculations of early assembly polls in Odisha, a senior official claimed it was a routine exercise ahead of the 2024 general elections.

Assembly polls in the state are due in March-April next year.