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Bengal Voter List Crisis: 20 Lakh Documents Pending, Poll Dates at Risk

With a critical deadline approaching, approximately 20 lakh voter documents are pending re-verification by District Electoral Officers in West Bengal due to "logical discrepancies" found by micro-observers. An additional 1.14 lakh submitted documents have not even been uploaded for scrutiny to begin. These delays make it highly doubtful that the scrutiny process can be completed by the February 21 deadline, potentially forcing another extension. Consequently, the publication of the final voters' list, and possibly the announcement of assembly poll dates, could be postponed, impacting the Election Commission's planned visit and phased polling strategy.

Key Points: Bengal Voter List Scrutiny Delayed, 20 Lakh Docs Pending

  • 20 lakh voter docs pending re-verification
  • 1.14 lakh docs yet to be uploaded
  • Final voter list publication likely delayed
  • Election Commission's full bench visit in March
3 min read

Bengal SIR: 20 lakh voters' documents pending re-verification by DEOs

20 lakh voter documents pending re-verification in West Bengal, casting doubt on election schedule and final voter list publication deadline.

"Possibilities are high that the deadline... might have to be extended again - CEO office sources"

Kolkata, Feb 19

With just three days left for the deadline for scrutiny of voters' documents submitted during the hearing sessions on claims and objections on the draft voters' list to expire, around 20 lakh voters' documents are pending re-verification from the side of the District Magistrates, who are also the District Eelectoral Officers.

Sources in the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, said that the majority of these documents that are pending re-verification from the side of the DEOs are "logical discrepancy" cases.

"The micro-observers noticed abnormalities in the case of these documents during the ongoing scrutiny phases. In such cases, the documents submitted by the concerned voters did not match the 13 documents mandated by the Election Commission of India as authentic identity documents. Based on the recommendations of the micro-observers, these documents were returned to the DEOs for re-verification. The Commission had also directed the DEOs concerned to complete the re-verification process and report back to the Commission at the earliest," sources in the CEO's office said.

At the same time, the CEO's office sources added, around 1.14 lakh voters' documents submitted during the hearing sessions are yet to be uploaded in the system, and hence, the scrutiny process for these documents is yet to be started.

"In view of these two developments, it is doubtful whether the deadline of completing the scrutiny process by February 21 would be met or not. Possibilities are high that the deadline for completing the scrutiny process might have to be extended again, and if that happens, the date of publishing the final voters' list might have to be postponed again," said the sources in CEO's office.

As per the current schedule, the final voters' list is scheduled to be published on February 28, which was earlier fixed on February 14.

On March 1, the full bench of the Commission is supposed to arrive in West Bengal for a two-day visit to take stock of the situation in the post-SIR scenario. Soon after that, the Commission is expected to announce the polling dates for the crucial Assembly elections in West Bengal scheduled later this year.

This time, the Commission is planning to conduct the polls in a much smaller number of phases than what they were in the last few elections. The CEO's office had already recommended a single-phase poll, while maintaining that the final decision in the matter will be taken by the Commission.

The last time a single-phase poll was conducted in West Bengal was in the 2001.

- IANS

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Reader Comments

R
Rajesh Q
Logical discrepancies in 20 lakh cases? Sounds like a serious issue with the initial documentation process. Were the guidelines not communicated properly? Hope the re-verification is done meticulously. We can't afford any doubts about the voter list's integrity. 🙏
A
Aman W
While delays are frustrating, I appreciate the micro-observers for catching these discrepancies. Better to have a clean, verified list now than controversies later. The DEOs must work overtime to meet the deadline. Single-phase polling would be ideal for stability.
S
Sarah B
As an observer, the process seems incredibly complex. 13 mandated documents is a lot. Perhaps the ECI could simplify the required documents for future elections to reduce such backlogs, while still maintaining security. Efficiency is key for public trust.
K
Karthik V
This is concerning. First the list publication gets postponed from Feb 14 to 28, now maybe further? The election schedule must be respected. The authorities need to explain what caused this pile-up. Common citizens submitted their docs on time.
M
Meera T
Hoping for a peaceful and fair election in Bengal. These administrative delays, while problematic, show the system is checking everything. Let's support the officials doing this tough job. Jai Hind!

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