The mammoth exercise to revise West Bengal's voter list is reaching a critical juncture. The pre-hearing phase of the state's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is almost complete, with election officials having digitised data for an overwhelming majority of the 7.6 crore registered voters.
Unmapped Voters to Receive Hearing Notices
Despite the high digitisation rate, a significant number of voters find themselves in a precarious position. Officials estimate that between 28 to 30 lakh voters are currently 'unmapped'. This means their present data does not match with the baseline electoral roll from 2002.
To retain their voting rights, these individuals will likely have to attend in-person hearings conducted by poll officials. Each unmapped voter will receive a formal notice to appear and must produce any one of the 13 approved SIR documents sanctioned by the Election Commission of India for verification.
The hearing window is scheduled from December 16 to February 7 next year. This process is crucial as it precedes the publication of the final electoral roll on February 14.
Massive Deletion of Unverifiable Entries
In a parallel cleanup drive, a substantial number of names are set to be purged from the draft list. As of the latest data, a staggering 54.6 lakh voter entries have been classified as uncollectible. This category includes voters who are deceased, have relocated, are untraceable, or are registered multiple times.
A senior EC official provided a breakdown: "A little over 7% of the digitised forms are now 'uncollectible'. Specifically, 23.7 lakh voters have died, 19 lakh have shifted, 10.1 lakh are untraceable, and 1.2 lakh are duplicate entries. These names will not feature in the draft SIR roll."
The draft roll is slated for publication on December 16. However, voters whose names are omitted retain the right to challenge the decision. They can file fresh enrolment applications using Form 6 to get back on the list.
Deadline and Final Steps
The Election Commission's deadline to wrap up this intensive pre-hearing phase is this Thursday. In addition to the major deletions, the EC will also publish a separate list containing approximately 21,000 voters. These are individuals who collected enumeration forms but failed to return them to booth-level officers. Their names will also be excluded from the upcoming draft roll.
This comprehensive revision underscores the EC's effort to create a clean, accurate, and updated voter database for West Bengal, ensuring the integrity of the electoral process for future polls.
