The Election Commission of India (ECI) has expressed worry about the delayed verification of identification documents for “unmapped” voters involved in the ongoing hearings on the draft voters’ list in West Bengal. To address this issue, the Commission has instructed District Magistrates (DMs), who also serve as District Electoral Officers (DEOs), to expedite the authentication process before the final voters’ list is published on February 14. Currently, efforts are underway to verify the documents of “unmapped voters” who cannot link back to the 2002 voters’ list through self-mapping or progeny-mapping.
According to data from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) in West Bengal, out of the 32 lakh unmapped voters, hearings have been completed for approximately 29 lakh voters as of Wednesday evening. However, only around 11 lakh voters out of the 29 lakh have had their supporting identification documents uploaded in the system. The verification of these documents by the concerned DMs or DEOs has been finalized for only about one lakh “unmapped” voters. In response, the ECI has urged the officials to accelerate the verification process.
The ECI has emphasized that only the 13 specified identity documents will be considered valid, rejecting any other forms of proof. Instances have occurred where voters submitted documents outside the specified list, prompting the ECI to issue a fresh reminder to the DMs and DEOs. The ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal is set to wrap up with the release of the final voters’ list on February 14, followed by the announcement of Assembly election polling dates by the ECI.
