West Bengal Draft Electoral Rolls: Election Commission to Release Revised Voter List Ahead of 2026 Assembly Polls

The state Chief Electoral Officer's office has activated district-level websites for voter verification purposes.

The Election Commission is scheduled to release the draft electoral rolls for West Bengal on Tuesday, following the completion of the statewide Special Intensive Revision (SIR) conducted in preparation for the 2026 assembly elections.

Election authorities are working diligently to finalize preparations, with officials confirming on Monday that the process remains on schedule to meet the established deadline.

According to Commission sources, the draft list has been uploaded to the internal Booth Level Officer (BLO) app, providing field officials early access to booth-specific voter information before public release.

The state Chief Electoral Officer's office has also launched district-level websites, which will allow voters to verify their details online beginning Tuesday.

The publication of these draft rolls will conclude the enumeration phase and initiate a more challenging stage involving claims, objections, and hearings that will continue into February 2026.

During this period, voters identified with discrepancies will be summoned for verification before the final electoral rolls are published, tentatively planned for February 14, 2024.

The SIR process commenced on November 4 after the Election Commission announced its schedule on October 27, when West Bengal's electorate numbered 7,66,37,529.

BLOs delivered enumeration forms to all registered voters through door-to-door visits. Officials have indicated that voters who submitted signed forms, even partially completed ones, have been included in the draft list, though their information will undergo additional verification.

Commission data reveals that numerous voters have been flagged during the process. Over 30 lakh voters have been placed in a "no-mapping" category, as their names could not be connected to the 2002 electoral rolls. Hearings for these individuals are set to begin on Wednesday.

Furthermore, approximately 1.7 crore voters remain under various levels of scrutiny, with BLOs assigned to re-verify their details through door-to-door checks following the draft rolls' publication. Meanwhile, the extent of exclusions has started drawing attention.

According to the latest status report, more than 58 lakh names have been marked for deletion in the draft rolls, primarily under standard categories including deceased, relocated, untraceable, and duplicate voters, as well as those who failed to submit enumeration forms.

"Our assessment indicates that around 59 lakh names will appear as deleted in the draft rolls," a member of the BLO Adhikar Raksha Committee informed reporters.

Election officials have emphasized that inclusion in the draft list does not guarantee final retention, and all flagged voters will receive an opportunity for their cases to be heard.

A senior official in the CEO's office stated last week that more than 56 lakh voters were marked "uncollectible" during verification, including cases of deaths, relocation outside the state, untraceable voters, and duplicate entries.

Officials maintained that consistent criteria were applied across all districts and that outcomes would depend on the hearing process.

Even before the public release of the draft rolls, constituency-wise deletion data shared last week has introduced a pronounced political dimension to the exercise.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's Bhabanipur constituency showed notably higher deletions compared to Opposition Leader Suvendu Adhikari's Nandigram, a contrast reviving memories of their closely contested 2021 Assembly battle.

Election officials, however, clarified that Bhabanipur was not the most affected constituency. Chowringhee in north Kolkata topped the list, followed by Kolkata Port and Tollygunge.

In BJP-held constituencies, Asansol South and Siliguri also reported substantial deletions. By district, South 24 Parganas recorded the highest deletion count, while Kotulpur in Bankura saw the lowest.

More than 90,000 BLOs were deployed throughout the state during the SIR exercise. Employee unions and voter groups are now preparing for the hearing phase.

Swapan Mandal, general secretary of the Vote Workers' United Forum, noted that BLOs would need to serve notices and manage numerous hearings, expressing concerns about the handling of disputed cases.

The scale of this revision has prompted comparisons with Bihar, where a similar SIR earlier this year resulted in 65 lakh names being omitted from draft rolls, triggering political backlash.

As the draft rolls become available for public examination on Tuesday, the Election Commission faces the dual challenge of defending the revision process's credibility while navigating a politically charged verification phase in a state approaching an election year.