Panaji: As scrutiny continues over voters left out of electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Goa, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) has said that 88 of the 97 affected voters have filed Form 6 and that their applications have been accepted.

The Goa CEO’s latest status report also said that three of the 97 people hold Portuguese passports, while six voters are currently residing outside India. Officials said efforts are being made to establish and maintain contact with those living abroad for further necessary action.

The update comes after concerns were raised over the exclusion of the 97 voters from Goa’s final electoral roll, published in February 2026. The Election Commission of India (ECI) has since directed a special enrolment drive for eligible voters who were left out, as well as young and first-time voters who have not yet been included in the electoral roll.

88 voters submit Form 6

Form 6 is the prescribed application for inclusion of an eligible citizen’s name in the electoral roll as a general elector. The Goa CEO’s official website also lists Form 6 for new registration, while Form 6A is provided for eligible overseas Indian electors.

According to the latest status shared by the Goa CEO’s office, 88 of the 97 voters whose names were missing from the final roll have completed the Form 6 process and had their applications accepted.

The development marks a significant change from the situation reported earlier, when the cases of the 97 voters had become a focal point in the debate over the SIR exercise in Goa.

The CEO’s office had previously said that Booth Level Officers (BLOs) conducted separate house-to-house visits to the affected voters to facilitate the completion of Form 6. On September 24, the office said many of the voters had already been enrolled while the remaining cases were being processed.

The latest update provides a more detailed status of those 97 cases.

Three voters hold Portuguese passports

The Goa CEO’s office said three of the 97 people hold Portuguese passports.

The status report separately identified six voters who are currently outside India. Officials said they are making efforts to establish and maintain contact with these voters so that further necessary action can be taken.

The distinction is significant because not every person whose name was left out of an electoral roll necessarily falls into the same eligibility category.

Goa has a longstanding connection with Portugal, and people born in the former Portuguese territories and their descendants can, subject to Portuguese law and documentation, obtain Portuguese citizenship documents. At the same time, Indian electoral eligibility is governed by Indian citizenship and election laws.

The CEO’s latest statement therefore separates the cases that have moved forward through accepted Form 6 applications from those requiring further examination or contact.

Six voters currently outside India

The Goa CEO’s office said six of the 97 voters are currently residing outside India.

Rather than treating these cases as closed, officials said efforts are under way to establish and maintain contact with the concerned voters.

The Election Commission’s voter-registration framework provides a separate Form 6A for eligible overseas Indian electors who are Indian citizens and have not acquired citizenship of another country. The Goa CEO’s website lists Form 6A specifically for registration of overseas electors.

The latest status report does not indicate that all six overseas voters have been declared ineligible. Instead, it says officials are continuing efforts to contact them for further action.

How the 97-voter issue emerged

The 97 cases came under scrutiny after a report by The Indian Express highlighted that Electoral Registration Officers had found the concerned electors eligible, but their decisions could not be recorded in the election software before the final roll was published.

According to the report, the final electoral roll for Goa was published in February 2026 after the SIR exercise, with a net deletion of around 1.27 lakh voters, or 10.76 per cent of the state’s electorate. The 97 cases became particularly significant because they involved voters whose cases had been separately examined but whose names were nevertheless missing from the final roll.

The Goa CEO subsequently said that the 97 cases were being processed separately through house-to-house visits by BLOs.

The officials asked the affected voters to complete Form 6 so that their claims for inclusion could be processed.

Election Commission orders special voter drive

The Goa development comes alongside a broader ECI decision to conduct a special drive in states and Union Territories where the SIR exercise has been completed.

The drive is intended to identify eligible citizens who were left out of the electoral roll and facilitate their enrolment. It will also cover young people and first-time voters who have not yet registered.

The ECI has said eligible voters can use the statutory Form 6 through the normal process of continuous updation. Officials have also been directed to compare electoral rolls and identify eligible voters who may have been left out during the revision process. BLOs can assist such voters in submitting applications.

The initiative is intended to address cases where eligible voters were not included in the revised rolls while maintaining the regular procedure for new registrations.

Form 6 remains central to enrolment

Form 6 is not a special form created specifically for the Goa controversy. It is the standard application used to seek inclusion in the electoral roll.

The ECI’s voter services portal lists Form 6 for new voter registration and allows citizens to track applications submitted for registration or updating of electoral-roll details.

The Goa CEO’s website similarly lists Form 6 as the application for new registration and provides separate forms for overseas electors, deletion objections and correction or shifting of existing entries.

For the 97 Goa cases, the form became the mechanism through which the affected voters could have their inclusion processed after their names were missing from the final SIR roll.

CEO says eligible voters should not be left out

The Goa CEO’s office had earlier sought to reassure voters that the cases would be dealt with separately.

In its September 24 communication, the office said many of the 97 voters had already been enrolled and that the remaining cases were being processed. It also reiterated that no eligible elector would be left behind.

In its latest update, the office said the special drive in Goa would focus on facilitating the enrolment of eligible citizens left out of the electoral roll, along with young and first-time eligible electors.

The CEO’s office has also urged eligible citizens to make use of the enrolment process and ensure that their names are included in the electoral roll.

SIR debate continues

The Goa cases have become part of a wider national debate over the SIR exercise and the deletion or non-inclusion of names from electoral rolls.

The ECI has maintained that the revision process is intended to improve the accuracy of electoral rolls, while the exclusion of voters has prompted questions about how eligible electors can be restored when their names are missing.

The Goa episode illustrates one specific issue within that broader debate: the handling of cases in which voters were considered eligible but were not present in the final roll.

With 88 of the 97 voters now having their Form 6 applications accepted, most of the cases have moved into the regular enrolment process. The remaining nine cases have different circumstances, including three involving Portuguese passport holders and six involving voters currently outside India.

The ECI’s special drive is expected to provide another route for eligible voters who were left out during SIR to seek inclusion. For Goa, the status of the 97 cases will continue to be watched as officials work to resolve the remaining cases and update the electoral roll.