Voter List Update: Voter List Verification Starts in the State from Tuesday! BLOs to Go Door-to-Door, but Online Form Fill-up is Delayed

Voter List Update: Special work related to the voter list is set to begin in West Bengal. From Tuesday, Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will start visiting the homes of voters across the state for data verification. This door-to-door process, where enumeration forms will be distributed to voters, will continue until December 4. However, the online form submission facility, intended for voters residing outside the state, will not be immediately available due to technical issues.

According to Commission sources, this entire process is part of the SIR (Special Intensive Revision). The Commission has already started the ‘SIR Mapping’ work for this purpose. In this process of comparing the current voter list with the 2002 voter list, data for about 2 crore 45 lakh 71 thousand 114 voters have been matched as of Monday, which accounts for 32.06% of the total voters in the state.

SIR Mapping and Document Verification

The main objective of SIR mapping is to establish a link between the data of a current voter and the 2002 electoral roll. This involves checking if a voter’s name or their parents’ names match with the 2002 list. According to Commission sources, voters whose information is successfully matched during the mapping will only need to fill out the enumeration form. They will not be required to submit any additional documents.

However, voters whose data cannot be properly linked to the 2002 list will have to undergo document verification. Nevertheless, the enumeration form will be delivered to every voter in the state. As per the CEO’s office, these forms will reach a total of 7 crore 66 lakh 37 thousand 529 voters across 294 constituencies, and double the required number of forms have been printed.

EC Delegation’s Visit and Political Reaction

A delegation from the Election Commission of India is scheduled to arrive in the state from Delhi on Wednesday to review the progress of the SIR work. The team will include Deputy Election Commissioner Gyanesh Bharati and other senior officials. They will visit Cooch Behar, Alipurduar, and Jalpaiguri in North Bengal to inspect the work of the BLOs.

Meanwhile, there are allegations that the SIR process has created a sense of panic among a section of the state’s residents. In protest against this, the ruling party, Trinamool Congress, has organised a protest march in Kolkata on Tuesday. Led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee, the march will start from the B.R. Ambedkar statue on Red Road and conclude near Jorasanko Thakur Bari.

Timeline for the Complete Voter List Process

• Door-to-door distribution of enumeration forms: From Tuesday to December 4.
• Publication of draft voter list: December 9.
• Period for claims and objections: December 9 to January 8.
• Disposal of claims and objections: December 9 to January 31.
• Publication of the final voter list: February 7.

An official from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer of the state mentioned that the online process is an additional facility. Efforts are underway to resolve the technical issues quickly and launch the service within a day or two.