National Desk : VOC

The hearing process for the intensive revision of the voter list in the state has officially concluded. The Election Commission has now entered its final phase of preparation ahead of publishing the final electoral roll. However, serious concerns have emerged over the massive volume of pending document verification and the large number of voters likely to be removed from the list.

According to provisional figures available till Saturday, nearly 6.61 lakh voters are expected to be excluded from the final voter list. A major reason behind this is non-appearance at the verification hearings and rejection of submitted documents.

Commission sources indicate that around 5.8 lakh names had already been dropped from the draft voter list earlier. In the next phase, another 4.98 lakh voters failed to appear before the hearing authorities despite receiving notices. Additionally, about 1.63 lakh voters were declared ineligible after scrutiny of their documents.

At the same time, more than 50 lakh verification records are still pending, raising doubts within the Election Commission over whether all checks can be completed before the deadline for publishing the final list.

District-wise absentee voters

North 24 Parganas has recorded the highest number of absentee voters during the hearing process, particularly in areas dominated by the Matua community.

District-wise figures show:

North 24 Parganas: around 1.38 lakh voters absent

South 24 Parganas: around 46,000

South Kolkata: nearly 22,000

North Kolkata: about 2,000

Kalimpong: around 440

By Saturday evening, official data suggested that nearly 4.98 lakh names are being removed solely due to non-attendance at hearings. When combined with rejected documentation cases, the total number of deletions stands close to 6.61 lakh voters.

Final voter list on February 28

The Election Commission has announced that the final voter list will be published on February 28.

State Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Agarwal said:

“Those whose names appeared in the draft list but do not find place in the final list will still have the opportunity to apply again. If there has been any mistake, corrections can be made. This process does not end with the publication of the final list; additions and deletions will continue.”

He also noted that several minor errors related to age, spelling, and address were corrected during the SIR (Special Intensive Revision) process.

Accountability mechanism

The Election Commission has clarified that if any irregularity is detected after the final list is published, the responsibility will lie with the concerned Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), as they are responsible for verifying and uploading voter data.

Micro observers and roll observers will only review the uploaded information and cannot directly add or remove names. Any discrepancy found will be sent back to the Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO) for correction.

Applications for deceased and migrated voters

During the revision process, many voters were found to have either passed away or migrated to other locations. For such cases, Form-7 applications must be submitted.

So far, around 42,501 applications have been received by the Commission under this category.

Overall picture

With the final voter list scheduled for release on February 28, the Election Commission is under pressure to complete verification of millions of pending records. The unusually high number of potential deletions has triggered political and administrative concern.

The coming days will be crucial in determining how accurately and transparently the final electoral roll reflects the actual voter population of the state.

All eyes are now on the Election Commission’s next move as the deadline approaches

National Desk : Voice of Calcutta