With just three days left for the deadline for scrutiny of voters’ documents in West Bengal, around 20 lakh documents are pending re-verification by District Magistrates, who also serve as District Electoral Officers. The majority of these pending documents are cases of “logical discrepancy” identified during ongoing scrutiny phases. Micro-observers noted abnormalities where the submitted documents did not align with the 13 documents required by the Election Commission of India for authentication. These cases have been sent back to the DEOs for re-verification based on the observers’ recommendations.
Around 1.14 lakh voters’ documents from hearing sessions are yet to be uploaded in the system, delaying the scrutiny process for these documents. This situation raises doubts about meeting the February 21 deadline for completing the scrutiny process. There is a possibility of extending the deadline, which could further postpone the publication of the final voters’ list, currently scheduled for February 28, after being rescheduled from February 14.
The Election Commission plans to conduct the Assembly elections in West Bengal this year in fewer phases compared to previous elections. The CEO’s office has suggested a single-phase poll, awaiting the Commission’s final decision. The last time West Bengal had a single-phase poll was in 2001. The Commission’s full bench is expected to visit West Bengal on March 1 to assess the post-SIR scenario before announcing the polling dates.
