EC to conduct Bengal voter verification process from July to Nov
Kolkata: With assembly elections due in 2026, EC is planning to complete verification of Bengal's electoral rolls by Nov this year. Training has begun of over 1 lakh booth-level officers (BLOs), who will be making door-to-door visits with new enumeration forms (EF) from mid-July to cross-check identities.
BLOs will go to homes with an EF containing an existing photo of the voter, who will have to provide a new photo. The officers will guide voters in filling the EF, in which they will be required to make a declaration. BLOs will collect necessary documents from voters, who need to provide their mobile number and Aadhaar as well as details of their parents' EPICs and spouse's, if applicable.
The officers will particularly scrutinise the data and documents provided by voters born between July 1, 1987 and Dec 2, 2004, who need to submit either a birth certificate, passport, permanent resident certificate, OBC/SC/ST certificates, board exam certificate, land allotment document or forest rights certificate.
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EC has termed this a special intensive revision of rolls. Those whose names are not recommended for inclusion can seek a hearing with the assistant electoral registration officer or electoral registration officer (ERO). The final electoral roll will be published in Jan 2026.
Political parties have been informed of the verification through a new EF; their booth-level agents will be apprised of decisions on inclusions.
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There are around 82,000 BLOs in Bengal. However, with EC's recent decision to limit the number of voters per booth to 1,200, down from 1,500, the number of booths in the state will increase by over 20,000 to over 1 lakh.
Thus, additional BLOs are being trained to use an app to upload data. If voters are not at home during the BLO's visit, there is a provision for online submission.
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