Chief Electoral Officer R S Gopalan confirmed that extensive flooding currently impacts nineteen out of thirty districts.

The Election Commission of India officially revised the schedule for the ongoing Special Intensive Revision exercise in Odisha due to severe flood conditions. This administrative decision grants citizens two additional weeks to submit claims and objections, extending the deadline from August 4 to August 19.

Chief Electoral Officer R S Gopalan confirmed that extensive flooding currently impacts nineteen out of thirty districts. Consequently, field administrative staff, including Booth Level Officers, remain heavily deployed in urgent flood relief and rehabilitation operations across affected areas, necessitating an extension of the revision calendar.

Under the revised timeline, the period for issuing notices, holding hearings, and resolving voter claims has been pushed back to September 17. The final publication of the electoral roll, originally scheduled for September 6, will now take place on September 21 across the entire state.

The initial enumeration phase conducted earlier revealed that nearly twenty lakh electors were excluded from the draft roll published on July 5. The revised schedule offers vital relief for unlisted citizens seeking inclusion or necessary personal record corrections before final publication deadlines approach next month.

Welcoming the decision, opposition party Biju Janata Dal noted that extending the timeframe protects fundamental democratic rights for flood impacted populations.