India Launches Special Voter Enrollment Drives in Maharashtra and Odisha

The Election Commission of India has directed 20 states and Union Territories to conduct special drives to ensure the accuracy of electoral rolls. This national directive has triggered targeted registration efforts in Maharashtra and Odisha to include missed voters and remove ineligible entries.

In Maharashtra, the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer processed 624,054 applications for new registrations, objections, and corrections between August 31 and October 4, 2026. The majority of these were Form 6 requests for new voters, with Pune recording the highest volume at 56,605 forms. Approximately 21.14% of the voter pool was categorized as absent, shifted, dead, or duplicate. The state has extended the claims and objections period until October 12, with the final roll due November 16.

Simultaneously, the government of Odisha is running a three-day special enrollment campaign from October 7 to 9, 2026. This drive targets young citizens who turned 18 by October 1 and individuals wrongly excluded from the rolls. To facilitate verification, the Chief Electoral Officer of Odisha is publishing lists of persons marked as deceased, shifted, absent, or duplicate on official websites for review by voters and political parties.