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ECI Flags Slow Voter Verification in Bengal, Directs DEOs to Accelerate

The Election Commission of India has expressed concern over the slow pace of verifying identification documents for unmapped voters in West Bengal. With hearings completed for 29 lakh out of 32 lakh such voters, only 11 lakh have had their documents uploaded and a mere 1 lakh verified. The ECI has directed District Electoral Officers to accelerate authentication ahead of the February 14 deadline for the final voters' list. The Commission also reiterated that only 13 specified identity documents will be accepted as valid proof.

Key Points: ECI Directs Bengal DEOs to Speed Up Voter Document Verification

  • 32 lakh unmapped voters in Bengal
  • Hearing done for 29 lakh voters
  • Documents uploaded for only 11 lakh
  • Verification completed for just 1 lakh
  • Final voters' list deadline is February 14
2 min read

ECI flags slow document authentication in Bengal SIR, directs DEOs to accelerate

Election Commission flags slow authentication for 32 lakh unmapped Bengal voters, directs DEOs to expedite process ahead of February 14 final list.

"The ECI has directed the DMs or the DEOs to expedite the process of document verification - Source in CEO's office"

Kolkata, Jan 15

The Election Commission of India is concerned regarding the slow rate of verification of identification documents provided by "unmapped" voters who have participated in the current hearing sessions concerning the draft voters' list in West Bengal.

Amid this situation, the Commission has directed the District Magistrates (DMs), who are also the District Electoral Officers (DEOs), to expedite the process of document authentication, considering that the deadline for publication of the final voters list is February 14 this year.

Currently, the hearing of the "unmapped voters", that is, voters unable to establish links with the voters' list 2002 either through "self-mapping" or through "progeny-mapping," is being done.

According to the statistics available from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, of the 32 lakh unmapped voters, hearing has been completed for around 29 lakh voters till Wednesday evening.

However, out of the 29 lakh voters, whose hearing processes have been completed, the supporting identification documents furnished by them at the hearing session have been uploaded in the system for just around 11 lakh voters till the same period.

The third stage, which is the verification of the supporting identity documents by the DMs or DEOs concerned, has been completed for only around one lakh "unmapped" voters. So, in the backdrop of the situation, the ECI has directed the DMs or the DEOs to expedite the process of document verification, a source in the CEO's office said.

The ECI, the source added, had also reminded the DMs/DEOs that no other supporting identity documents other than the 13 already specified by the ECI in the matter would be accepted as a valid identity-proof document.

"There have been several instances where voters have furnished documents other than the 13 specified by the ECI in the matter. In view of this, a fresh reminder in the matter has been given by the ECI to the DMs or the DEOs," the source said.

The ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal is scheduled to conclude with the publication of the final voters' list on February 14. Shortly after that, the ECI is expected to announce the polling dates for the Assembly elections.

- IANS

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Reader Comments

P
Priya S
Good that ECI is keeping a close watch. But why is the verification so slow? 11 lakh documents uploaded but only 1 lakh verified? That's a huge gap. The officers must explain this. Common people go through so much hassle to submit papers.
A
Arjun K
The reminder about the 13 specified documents is crucial. People often bring ration cards or local club IDs, which creates confusion and slows down the process. Awareness campaigns are needed so voters come prepared with the right papers.
S
Sarah B
Working in governance tech, I see this often. The bottleneck might not be manpower but the legacy systems for upload and verification. Maybe ECI could deploy temporary tech teams to assist? Deadlines are tight.
M
Meera T
As a teacher in Kolkata, I know many colleagues who are "unmapped" voters. They attended hearings months ago and are still waiting. This uncertainty is stressful. Hope the acceleration happens for real and not just on paper.
V
Vikram M
Respectfully, while the directive is good, the ECI itself must share some blame. Such a massive exercise with a hard deadline needed better planning and resource allocation from the start. Last-minute pushes lead to errors.
K
Karthik V
February 14 is not far

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