Bhubaneswar, July 22: The State has identified nearly 1.2 million "ghost voters" whose identities or records could not be verified during the mapping of the 2002 electoral roll with the 2025 electoral roll, Chief Electoral Officer R. S. Gopalan said.

The election authorities have also found discrepancies in the records of 5,836,341 voters, who will be issued notices for verification. In addition, around 4.6 million voters have minor errors in their names, addresses, or other personal details, which can be corrected with the assistance of Booth Level Officers (BLOs).

Voters who receive notices will be required to submit the necessary documents to the Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO) and appear for a hearing on the scheduled date, time, and venue. Alternatively, they may upload the required documents through the Voters.eci.gov.in portal.

The Chief Electoral Officer said that senior citizens, persons with disabilities, seriously ill individuals, physically incapacitated persons, and residents of remote or inaccessible areas will generally be exempt from appearing in person. In such cases, BLOs will visit their residences to collect the required documents and facilitate the verification process.

The draft electoral roll was published on July 5, and voters have until August 4 to file claims or objections regarding omissions or corrections. The notice issuance and claims disposal process will continue until September 2. Based on the documents submitted and the verification carried out, the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) will determine each voter's eligibility. The final electoral roll is scheduled to be published on September 6, 2026.