The second supplementary list under SIR for electoral rolls in West Bengal is likely to be published by March 27-28, a senior Election Commission official said on Thursday.
The official at the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer said that about 36,000 voters have been eliminated from the pending list so far, forming the basis for the issuance of the second supplementary list.
“By Friday or Saturday evening, the second supplementary list may be released,” he said, adding that the process depends on the resolution of remaining entries received from various booths.
The official said that the problems that emerged during the publication of the first supplementary list still persist.
“The lists that were signed have been uploaded electronically by the courts. In some cases, there may be technical issues or glitches. Data from several kiosks has not yet been received,” he said.
The review is being conducted in compliance with the directives of the Supreme Court, which ruled that voters whose names were excluded from the rolls should be allowed to appeal to the court.
However, there remains uncertainty regarding the activation of these courts.
“A final decision has not yet been taken on when and where the courts will start functioning,” the official said, adding that the state government has proposed four locations, while the Calcutta High Court has suggested the Judicial Academy in New Town as a possible venue.
The delay in establishing the two tribunals has raised concerns among stakeholders, as affected voters await clarification on the mechanism for appealing exclusions from electoral rolls.
The Poll Committee had released the first supplementary list of voters “under adjudication” on Monday, but remained tight-lipped about the number of deletions or the exact number of cases disposed of on that list, sparking criticism from various quarters.
A total of 58 lakh names were deleted after the enumeration phase of the SIR exercise, bringing down eligible voters in the state from the initial 7.66 crore to 7.08 crore on the basis of death, migration, duplication and untraceability.
The post-SIR lists published on February 28 brought down the number of eligible voters to just over 7.04 lakh crore, which involved putting more than 60,000 names under judicial scrutiny.
