Bengal: ECI to publish separate voter list of incomplete forms

Kolkata, Nov 1 (IANS) With the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in West Bengal to start from November 4, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced that it will publish a separate list of voters whose duly-filled enumeration forms do not reach the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) within the stipulated time.

An official said that the draft voters’ list is scheduled for release on December 9.

“Before the release of the list, the commission will disclose the names of individuals whose forms remain unsubmitted, categorising them as either deceased, bogus, or relocated voters,” the official said.

He said that the move aims to prevent any misunderstanding regarding the exclusion of genuine voters from the draft list.

The decision comes amid rising political tension in the state, with the ruling Trinamool Congress warning of large-scale protests if any legitimate voter is omitted during the revision process.

The revision exercise will be conducted in three phases. In the first phase, beginning November 4, Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will visit households to distribute and collect enumeration forms. The draft list will be published following this phase.

In the second phase, political parties and individual voters will be allowed to file objections or corrections to the draft list, which will be reviewed by the commission.

The final phase will involve Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) addressing the complaints, after which the final voters’ list will be published.

The entire process is expected to conclude by March 2026. The last SIR in West Bengal was conducted in 2002.

--IANS

src/dan