SIR in Goa: 96.5% forms collected, 90,000 found to be ‘absent, shifted, dead or duplicate’, CEO says

“When the draft electoral roll is published on December 9, these 90,000 voters will not be included in the draft roll. During the enumeration phase, when forms were distributed and booth-level officers (BLOs) went to their houses, they found that these 90,000 voters were either not traceable, or had shifted to another location or died, or they were informed that they had voted elsewhere,” he said.

Goel said a list of the 90,000 would be published online and on notice boards at public offices. He said that from December 9 to February 7, 2026, claims and objections related to any incorrectly marked entries can be submitted.

The CEO said that around 40,000 enumeration forms are yet to be submitted and appealed to the electors to submit the enumeration forms before December 4. “There have been no complaints. Apart from a minor complaint regarding a BLO, everything has been sorted out,” he said.

Approximately 2.2 lakh voters could not be mapped, he said, adding, “This essentially means that their name is in the 2025 electoral roll, but in 2002, when the last SIR took place in Goa, their names or their parents could not be mapped. Since we have received their enumeration forms, their names will be published in the draft electoral rolls on December 9.” He said these voters can submit an extract or a note, from when their names or their parents were included during the previous SIR or 13 other documents which have been designated by the Election Commission, during a summary hearing and accordingly their names would be included in the final roll.

On whether some voters, who have acquired Portuguese citizenship in Goa, have been included in the draft electoral roll, Goel said, “It is very clear who is eligible to be a voter. If someone has acquired a Portuguese passport, he/she ceases to be a citizen of India and is not supposed to be in the list. But this is based on self-declaration. Till someone declares…we do not have a mechanism whereby if someone surrenders their Indian passport, we will get an intimation about it,” he said. If anyone declares information that is found incorrect, then they can be prosecuted under relevant provisions, he said.