West Bengal Migrant Workers and Students Exempt from In-Person Hearing for Voter Registration
Election Commission's New Directive
Kolkata, Jan 7: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced that migrant workers from West Bengal living in other states and students studying outside the state will not be required to attend hearing sessions in person regarding their voter registration. This decision comes in light of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, where certain cases have been flagged as having 'logical discrepancies.'
Family members of these voters can represent them at the hearing centers, providing necessary documentation to address the ECI's concerns, as confirmed by a source from the Chief Electoral Officer's office.
This leniency has been introduced due to the significant number of migrant workers and students from West Bengal, making it impractical for many to return for hearings.
Booth-level officers (BLOs) will visit voters' homes to explain why their names have been marked as 'logical discrepancies' during the 'progeny mapping' process.
Additionally, the ECI has requested that government employees in West Bengal declare that they are not registered as duplicate voters, meaning they do not appear on the voter list in multiple locations.
The hearing process for 'unmapped' voters has already concluded, and starting Tuesday, the ECI will begin issuing notices to those identified as 'logical discrepancies' in the draft voter list published on December 16.
Currently, over 30 lakh voters in the state are categorized as 'unmapped,' while approximately 92 lakh have been identified as 'logical discrepancies.'
Hearings for these 'logical discrepancy' cases are set to commence on January 13, with the final voter list for West Bengal expected to be published on February 14. This timeline necessitates that hearings be completed within a month.
Following the release of the draft voter list, a full bench of the ECI will visit Kolkata to assess the situation, after which polling dates for the upcoming Assembly elections will be announced.