In a significant development for West Bengal's electoral process, the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists has achieved a remarkable 95.7% success rate in mapping current voters to previous electoral records. This represents a dramatic improvement from initial concerns about voter data discrepancies.
From 51% to 95.7%: The Mapping Turnaround
The Election Commission's latest data reveals that only 4.3% of voters could not be mapped to the 2002 SIR roll of Bengal or equivalent lists from other states and Union Territories. This low percentage stands in sharp contrast to the Commission's statement on October 28, which indicated that Bengal's electoral roll had only 51% mapping with the 2002 SIR roll, suggesting nearly half of electors couldn't be matched to previous records.
Manoj Agarwal, Bengal's chief electoral officer, provided concrete numbers on Thursday, stating that over 6 crore enumeration forms have been digitized so far. Among these, approximately 26 lakh forms showed no mapping with the last SIR roll of any state or UT, including Bengal's 2002 SIR roll. West Bengal currently has 7.6 crore registered voters in total.
Understanding the Initial Low Mapping Percentage
A senior Election Commission official clarified the reasons behind the initially low mapping percentage. Before the SIR exercise began on November 4, officials completed mapping all electors' data as mentioned in the electoral roll from October 28, 2025, with Bengal's 2002 SIR roll.
The official explained that the substantial increase in polling booths—from 61,531 in 2002 to 80,681 currently—represented an expansion of nearly 19,000 booths over 23 years. This expansion, combined with significant voter migration both within and between states, made the initial low mapping percentage understandable.
Delimitation of constituencies emerged as another crucial factor affecting the mapping process. The official cited examples from Kasba and Metiabruz assembly constituencies, which were formed in 2011 after delimitation and showed only 4% and 8% mapping respectively with Bengal's 2002 SIR roll.
Ongoing Improvements and Verification Process
CEO Manoj Agarwal expressed confidence that mapping percentages would continue to improve as the SIR process advances. "It is quite obvious that mapping will increase further as electors who have shifted to other booths get included with the help of their submitted details in the enumeration forms", Agarwal stated.
The official also highlighted that data for electors not included in Bengal's 2002 SIR roll because they were voters in other states or UTs during that period is now being mapped with the last SIR roll from their previous locations.
Despite the successful mapping progress, the Election Commission maintains rigorous verification protocols. Agarwal confirmed that any applicant can be called for a hearing before the Electoral Registration Officer if suspected of being a double voter or if complaints are filed against them.
The context of constituency realignment provides important background to the mapping challenges. The first Lok Sabha elections after delimitation of Parliamentary constituencies occurred in 2009, followed by assembly elections for realigned constituencies two years later in 2011. During this reorganization, several seats ceased to exist while new ones were formed, though the total number of assembly segments in Bengal remained unchanged at 294.
