West Bengal Gears Up For Voter Roll Revision, 2026 Poll Preparation Begins

West Bengal Initiates Electoral Roll Revision, Begins Groundwork for 2026 Assembly Elections

The Chief Electoral Officer's office in West Bengal has commenced preparations for the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, set to begin after Lakshmi Puja on October 6, according to insider reports. This initiative is part of a nationwide campaign orchestrated by the Election Commission of India.

Sources from the CEO's office have confirmed that the comparison of data from the 2002 Special Intensive Revision with the January 2025 voters list for Bengal will be finalized by tomorrow as part of the preliminary work.

Simultaneously, the CEO's office has already launched early preparations for the upcoming 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections. On Thursday, they unveiled the Election Manpower Management System (EMMS) 2.0 portal, designed to enhance the recruitment and organization of polling personnel.

Starting Friday, the EMMS 2.0 platform will be utilized to develop a comprehensive database of polling staff across approximately 32,000 offices throughout the state. With projections indicating around 14,000 additional polling stations, officials anticipate a considerable shortage of Booth Level Officers.

To combat this deficit, numerous election workers have already been appointed as BLOs. The CEO's office has instructed all 32,000 government offices to upload their staff information into the EMMS 2.0 system. Non-compliance will result in stringent penalties under the Representation of the People Act, 1951, with the highest-ranking official in each department held accountable.

The EMMS 2.0 portal will function as a digital hub for district administrations to oversee electoral manpower, including recruitment, transfers, data editing, and employee verification. The system will enable authorities to maintain current records of election-related staff, add new personnel, or remove those who have retired or been reassigned for specific reasons. This information will be managed by both district and block-level administrative units.

In preparation for the Special Intensive Revision exercise, the Election Commission aims to establish a thorough database of electoral personnel and accurately determine the total number of staff available across the state.

The EMMS 2.0 portal was developed as a collaborative effort between the National Informatics Centre and the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer, West Bengal. The platform was officially launched by NIC Joint Directors Saikat Narayan Bhattacharya and Shamik Kumar Bhattacharya, alongside Additional Chief Electoral Officer Arindam Niyogi and Deputy CEO Sumanta Ray.

The effectiveness of the Election Commission in utilizing the EMMS 2.0 platform to prepare a comprehensive roster of election workers ahead of the 2026 elections remains to be seen.