West Bengal's Election Commission Enhances Accountability for Voter Document Verification

Strengthening Voter Document Verification in West Bengal

Kolkata, Dec 31: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has established a comprehensive accountability framework for District Magistrates (DMs) and District Electoral Officers (DEOs) regarding the verification of identity documents submitted by voters during the ongoing hearings related to claims and objections on the draft voters' list. This initiative is part of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process in West Bengal.

A meeting was convened on Tuesday with Deputy Election Commissioner Gyanesh Bharati, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of West Bengal Manoj Kumar Agarwal, and other senior ECI officials to delineate responsibilities and provide necessary instructions.

To facilitate this process, a dedicated application will be launched for DMs and DEOs, enabling them to verify, certify, and upload the authenticity of supporting identity documents.

According to sources from the CEO's office, the Commission has mandated a two-tier verification system for these documents, with the first level being handled by Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and the second by DMs and DEOs. The DMs and DEOs will now operate under a specific protocol to ensure the authenticity of these documents before they are approved.

Moreover, DMs and DEOs are instructed to limit their acceptance to only the 13 identity documents recognized by the Commission as valid. In exceptional circumstances where alternative documents may be considered, prior approval from the ECI is required.

Additionally, DEOs are responsible for ensuring that no booth-level agents (BLAs) from any political party are present during the hearings on claims and objections regarding the draft voters' list.

In the event of any political leaders attempting to disrupt the hearing process, DEOs must personally attend the venue to address the situation, as was necessary in a recent incident.

It has also been noted that if the Commission identifies any fraudulent documents that were mistakenly approved due to negligence, the responsible DEOs will be held accountable. Such deliberate oversights could negatively impact the Annual Confidential Report (ACR) of the officials involved.

The draft voters' list was released on December 16, with the final list set to be published on February 14 of the following year. The ECI will subsequently announce the polling dates for the important Assembly elections in West Bengal, scheduled for next year.