In a significant move, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has instructed district officials in West Bengal to temporarily suspend hearings for a large segment of voters labeled as 'unmapped' during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll. This pause comes amid heightened political tensions and procedural scrutiny just months before the state is scheduled to go to polls in 2026.
The Directive and Its Immediate Cause
The directive, issued by the Additional Chief Electoral Officer (ACEO) of West Bengal on 27 December 2025, explicitly asks District Election Officials (DEOs) not to summon for hearings those voters who were flagged as 'not found' by the ECI's central software but were subsequently found to be present in the hard copies of the 2002 electoral roll. This means that while hearing notices may have been automatically generated by the system for these individuals, they are not to be served, and the hearings are put on hold.
Officials cited a clear discrepancy as the reason for the pause. During ground-level verification, poll authorities discovered that many electors or their family members, who were shown as "unmapped" in the digital system, were actually listed in the physical copies of the 2002 rolls. The pause is intended to prevent unnecessary harassment of voters and to shield local Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) from being unfairly blamed for system-generated notices over which they had no control.
Understanding the SIR and the Scale of Revision
The context for this decision is the contentious SIR exercise initiated by the poll panel on 27 October 2025. The process required voters to essentially trace their lineage back to the 2002 electoral roll, either through their own name or that of a relative, to validate their current enrollment. The draft electoral list published on 16 December 2025 had already made headlines by deleting over 58 lakh (5.8 million) voter names on grounds such as death and migration.
In addition to these deletions, the commission's software identified another 32 lakh (3.2 million) electors as 'unmapped', meaning they could not be digitally linked to the 2002 roll. These individuals were initially required to appear for personal hearings, which began on 27 December, to prove their eligibility to remain on the voter list. The current pause applies specifically to this group flagged by the central software, not to cases identified as unmapped by EROs after physical verification.
Next Steps and Political Implications
The ECI's communication outlines the revised procedure. The hard copy extracts of the 2002 Electoral Roll are to be sent to DEOs for verification as per guidelines. Following this verification, the ERO or Assistant ERO (AERO) can make a decision and upload the necessary documents to resolve these cases. Booth Level Officers (BLOs) may also be deployed for field verification, including taking photographs with the electors.
This development occurs against a backdrop of intense political friction in West Bengal. The scale and geography of the voter list revisions have impacted numerous high-profile assembly constituencies. The state's 294-member assembly has its term ending in the first week of May 2026, setting the stage for a fiercely contested election. The pause in hearings is seen as a corrective measure to ensure the integrity of the electoral process while navigating the complex and charged political landscape of the state.
