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Goa Politics: Voter Roll Row Intensifies Over 97 Eligible Voters Ahead of 2027 Election
Haripriya 29 Sept 2026 5 min read 297 views
Goa Politics: A political dispute over electoral-roll revisions has intensified in Goa ahead of the 2027 Goa Assembly Election, after an Indian Express investigation highlighted the cases of 97 voters who were found eligible but were left out of the final electoral roll published in February 2026.
Opposition parties demanded that the eligible voters be added to the electoral roll, while the Goa Chief Electoral Officer later said that many of the 97 cases had already been enrolled through a separate process and that the remaining cases were being processed. The issue has now become part of a wider political debate over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
97 Voters Become Central to Goa SIR Debate
The Indian Express reported that 97 voters were found eligible but were left out of Goa's final electoral roll after the completion of the SIR exercise.
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According to the investigation, between February 11 and 17, the office of Goa's Chief Electoral Officer wrote eight times to the Senior Deputy Election Commissioner handling the state, seeking a rollback option that would have allowed Electoral Registration Officers to reverse earlier deletions. The requests were reportedly not acted upon before the final electoral roll was published.
The issue triggered demands from opposition parties for the eligible voters to be restored immediately.
Goa CEO Says Many Cases Have Been Enrolled
The Goa Chief Electoral Officer subsequently said that the 97 cases were processed separately through house-to-house visits by Booth Level Officers and completion of Form 6.
The CEO's office said that many of the 97 voters had since been enrolled, while the remaining cases were being processed. The office also stated that no eligible elector would be left behind.
This clarification is important because the controversy concerns voters who were left out of the final roll during the SIR process, while subsequent efforts were made to add their names through the normal enrolment procedure.
Opposition Parties Raise Questions
Goa opposition parties have criticised the handling of the electoral-roll revision.
Goa Forward Party president Vijai Sardesai demanded action over the 97 cases and raised concerns about the wider impact of voter deletions. Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party also criticised the SIR process and questioned the role of the Election (opens in a new tab) Commission in the revision exercise. These are political allegations and concerns raised by opposition leaders, rather than established findings that the electoral process was deliberately manipulated.
The opposition has also linked the issue to the wider number of deletions recorded during the SIR process.
Goa Recorded Large-Scale Electoral Roll Changes
The final electoral roll published after the SIR exercise recorded a net deletion of around 1.27 lakh voters, representing approximately 10.76% of Goa's electorate before the revision.
The Election Commission's stated purpose of the revision was to update the electoral rolls and address issues such as deceased, shifted, duplicate or otherwise ineligible entries. The dispute in Goa has focused particularly on whether eligible voters were also affected and how quickly their names could be restored.
Pramod Sawant Defends the SIR Process
Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has rejected opposition criticism over the voter-roll issue.
According to a Times of India report published on September 29, Sawant accused Congress and opposition parties of creating confusion over the deletion of voters during the SIR exercise.
He said that genuine electors whose names were deleted could approach the Election Commission and follow the process for restoration. He also referred to people holding Portuguese passports or dual citizenship while discussing why some names may have been removed or not restored. These statements represent the Chief Minister's position on the controversy.
Sawant also rejected allegations that minority voters were being deliberately targeted and said that people from different groups had received SIR notices.
Political Dispute Ahead of 2027 Election
The voter-roll controversy comes as Goa's political parties are preparing for the 2027 Assembly Election.
The dispute has added another issue to the state's political debate, alongside discussions over political alliances, candidates, governance and electoral strategy.
The Aam Aadmi Party and Goa Forward Party have already announced their Goa First alliance, while Congress has been engaging with regional political groups as it prepares for the upcoming election.
Election Roll Debate Continues
The developments surrounding the 97 voters highlight the importance of the process for correcting and restoring names on electoral rolls.
The Indian Express investigation raised questions about the inability to use the rollback mechanism before publication of the final roll, while the Goa CEO subsequently said that the affected cases were being handled separately through Form 6 and that many names had already been added.
The competing political claims about the SIR process therefore remain part of the wider electoral debate in Goa.
Goa Politics Ahead of 2027
With the 2027 Assembly Election approaching, electoral-roll issues are likely to remain an important subject of political discussion.
The controversy involving the 97 voters has brought attention to voter registration, deletion and restoration procedures in Goa. At the same time, political parties (opens in a new tab) are continuing their organisational and alliance preparations for the Assembly contest.
The final impact of the voter-roll dispute will depend on how the remaining cases are processed and how the issue develops through the electoral process.
Conclusion
The Goa voter-roll controversy has intensified after an Indian Express investigation highlighted 97 voters who were found eligible but were left out of the final electoral roll published after the SIR exercise.
Opposition parties demanded that the eligible voters be restored, while the Goa Chief Electoral Officer said many of the cases had subsequently been enrolled through Form 6 and that the remaining cases were being processed. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has rejected opposition allegations and defended the electoral-roll revision process.
The issue remains part of the broader political discussion in Goa as parties prepare for the 2027 Goa Assembly Election.
Latest Update: September 29, 2026
“The Goa voter-roll controversy has focused attention on 97 voters who were found eligible but were left out of the final roll during the SIR process. The Goa CEO later said many of the cases had been enrolled separately through Form 6, while the remaining cases were being processed, as opposition parties and the state government continued to present different views on the wider voter-roll issue.”
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