As concerns mount over possible large-scale, system-led deletions of voters in West Bengal, the state’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) has ordered an immediate pause on personal hearings for a specific category of electors during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The decision follows growing unease among officials and political stakeholders about the way the Election Commission’s central software has flagged voters as “unmapped,” a label that could potentially strip them of their voting rights without adequate on-ground verification.
Why Certain Voter Hearings Have Been Paused
The suspension applies narrowly but significantly. It covers voters whom the Election Commission’s software marked as “unmapped,” meaning their names could not be digitally traced to the 2002 electoral roll, even though they or their family members clearly appear in the physical, hard-copy version of that roll.
State officials say this discrepancy raised red flags. When local authorities manually checked the 2002 records, they found that many of these supposedly “unmapped” voters were, in fact, listed. In some cases, even their children appeared on the old rolls. This discovery prompted concerns that centrally generated notices were unfairly placing the burden of proof on voters, and potentially blaming local Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) for actions they did not initiate, reported Indian Express.
Importantly, the pause does not apply to cases where EROs themselves flagged voters as unmapped after field verification.
Understanding the 2002 Mapping Requirement
Under Election Commission guidelines issued on October 27, every existing elector in West Bengal was required to trace themselves, or a close family member, back to the 2002 electoral roll, the last time the state underwent an intensive revision. This “mapping” exercise became the foundation for retaining voter status during the SIR.
However, problems surfaced after the draft electoral roll was published on December 16.
- Around 58 lakh voters were removed after being categorised as deceased, relocated, or untraceable.
- Another 31 lakh voters were flagged by the EC’s software as “unmapped” and issued notices asking them to appear personally to prove eligibility.
Personal hearings for these system-generated notices began on December 27 , ntil the sudden intervention by the state CEO’s office.
Officials Push Back Against Centralised Notices
Tensions escalated when a group of state service officers, including serving EROs, formally raised concerns on December 24. In their letter to the CEO and the Election Commission, they warned of “system-driven” deletions that, they argued, bypassed the legally mandated role of EROs.
Under the Representation of the People Act, 1950, only the ERO of a constituency is authorised to question a voter’s eligibility and issue a hearing notice. The officers contended that centrally generated notices, even if issued in the ERO’s name, undermined this statutory responsibility.
Adding political weight to the issue, the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) submitted a memorandum on December 27, objecting to the system-generated notices.
Technical Glitches Behind ‘Unmapped’ Labels
On Saturday evening, the Additional CEO directed all District Election Officers to halt hearings for voters marked as unmapped by the system, even if notices had already been generated.
The explanation pointed to a technical bottleneck. According to the CEO’s office, the PDF version of the 2002 electoral roll had not been fully converted into CSV (plain text) format. As a result, the BLO App, used by Booth Level Officers, failed to establish digital linkages for many voters, despite their presence in authenticated hard copies of the roll published on the CEO’s website.
In simple terms, the data existed, but the software could not read it.
New Verification Process Proposed
To resolve the issue, the CEO’s office has asked the Election Commission to allow BLOs, EROs and Additional EROs to directly upload scanned extracts of the 2002 hard-copy rolls. This would enable accurate mapping without forcing voters to appear in person.
Until then:
- Hearing notices already generated for these cases should not be served.
- Extracts from the 2002 rolls will be sent to District Election Officers for verification.
- BLOs may conduct field visits, take photographs with the elector, and upload them as supporting evidence.
Only if discrepancies emerge later, either during verification or through formal complaints, will voters be called for hearings after proper notice.
What Happens to Ongoing Hearings?
Despite the pause, the Election Commission insists the overall hearing process continues.
A senior ECI official clarified that voters who have already received notices and appear for hearings will have their cases disposed of. However, no new notices will be issued to those falling under the paused “unmapped” category.
Sources also indicate that voters wrongly flagged as unmapped but found on the 2002 hard-copy rolls, potentially numbering in the lakhs, will be given relaxation from mandatory personal appearances.
Lessons from Bihar’s Revision Exercise
Similar issues surfaced earlier during the SIR in Bihar. In that case, pre-filled notices appeared on ERO dashboards through the central portal, even though they were not generated locally. Many EROs chose not to act on them.
Official data later showed that of 68.66 lakh deletions in Bihar, only 9,968 cases remained unexplained, with the rest attributed to death, migration, duplication or absence.
West Bengal’s situation, however, has sparked sharper debate, especially at this sensitive stage of revision, over who holds the authority to initiate scrutiny once enumeration forms are submitted.
What Lies Ahead in the SIR Process
Across 12 states and Union Territories, the Election Commission has used its portal to generate two types of notices:
- For voters not mapped to the last intensive revision roll
- For “logical discrepancies”, such as spelling errors in names
For now, West Bengal has put personal hearings on hold for the first category pending verification. Hearings for logical discrepancy cases are yet to begin.
