Draft Electoral Rolls for West Bengal to Be Published Today

PTI, KOLKATA, DEC 15, 2025 : The Election Commission is set to publish the draft electoral rolls for West Bengal on Tuesday following the completion of the statewide Special Intensive Revision (SIR) ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls. The election authorities are racing to complete last-minute preparations, with officials saying on Monday that the exercise is on track to meet the deadline.

Ahead of the official publication of the draft electoral rolls, booth-level officers (BLOs) across the state received access to the list, an official said. Through a dedicated application, BLOs were able to view the draft rolls booth-wise to facilitate preliminary verification, the official said on Monday.

"The draft list will go live on Tuesday noon for public access both online and offline. The BLOs have already received the draft list," the official told PTI.

Explaining how voters can verify their details, the official said people can check their names at the block development office, contact their respective BLOs, or access the information online. "Voters can also verify their details through ceowestbengal.wb.gov.in/SIR, voters.eci.gov.in or the ECINET mobile application," he said.

The draft rolls include all entries, including those submitted through enumeration forms, as well as names of deceased persons, missing voters, and duplicate entries, the official added. He said if any discrepancies are found, hearings will be conducted by Election Commission officials as part of the verification process.

The publication of the draft rolls will mark the end of the enumeration phase and the beginning of a far more contentious stage—claims, objections, and hearings—that will stretch into February 2026. During this period, voters flagged for discrepancies will be called for verification before the final rolls are published, tentatively scheduled for February 14, 2026.

The SIR process began on November 4 after the Election Commission announced the schedule on October 27, when West Bengal's electorate stood at 7,66,37,529. Enumeration forms were printed for all voters and delivered door-to-door by BLOs. According to officials, voters who submitted signed forms, even if partially filled, have been retained in the draft list, though their details will be subject to further verification.

Commission data shows that a significant number of 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 linked with the 2002 electoral rolls. Hearings for this group are scheduled to begin on Wednesday.

In addition, around 1.7 crore voters have been kept under varying degrees of scrutiny, with BLOs tasked to re-verify their details through door-to-door checks after the draft rolls are published. At the same time, the scale of exclusions has begun to draw attention. According to the latest status report, over 58 lakh names have been marked for deletion in the draft rolls, primarily under standard categories such as deceased, shifted, untraceable, and duplicate voters, as well as those who did not submit enumeration forms.

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

Election officials have stressed that inclusion in the draft list does not guarantee final retention, and that all flagged voters will get an opportunity to be heard.