West Bengal to Initiate Special Intensive Review for Voter Registration

Commencement of Hearing Notices for Voter Registration

In West Bengal, election registration officials will begin issuing notices for hearings starting Thursday as part of the Special Intensive Review (SIR). This information was confirmed by an official.

It is anticipated that approximately 3.2 million voters will receive notices for hearings in the initial phase. These voters' details could not be matched with the 2002 SIR data, yet their names appear in the draft voter list for 2026.

The official stated on Wednesday, 'Being included in the draft voter list does not mean that a voter will not be called for a hearing. However, the process may be relatively straightforward for them.' The election registration officials will start issuing hearing notices from the morning of December 18.

Two copies of the hearing notice will be issued. One will be handed to the respective voter, while the other will be retained by the booth-level officer after obtaining the voter's signature. Voters will be given some time to attend the hearing after receiving the notice, which is expected to commence soon.

Hearings will take place in government offices, including those of the district magistrate, sub-divisional magistrate, and block development officers. The official advised voters to prepare 11 documents specified by the election commission for verification.

Additionally, another official mentioned that the state's special voter list supervisor, Subrata Gupta, is likely to visit North Bengal before Christmas to review the SIR work.