By Dhruvi Shah
In preparation for the 2026 Assembly elections, West Bengal has stepped up its efforts to verify voters’ registrations as the Election Commission of India (ECI) ramps up its high-profile campaign to identify duplicate and invalid registered voters. As part of this campaign, the ECI launched a new feature within its Booth Level Officer (BLO) mobile application to increase accuracy in identifying and verifying duplicate voters.
BLO representatives stated that the new database feature allows BLOs to identify and verify duplicate registrations by flagging cases with more than one voter registration entry for the same name and father. According to BLO representatives, this contributes to a growing problem of duplicate registration entries due to the large number of individuals who have similar names and fathers, especially in large populated areas. BLO General Secretary Swapan Mondal states that although two individuals may have identical names, their other identifying information is usually distinct, such as where they live or the date they were born. The new database feature provides BLOs with the ability to cross-check these identifying details quickly and accurately to identify whether or not the voter registration entry is legitimate or whether it is a duplicate entry.
All BLOs throughout the state have now been given an initial list of all registered voters who have similar names in order to verify their registrations in the field. The increased verification efforts come in the wake of the ECI’s discovery of large amounts of questionable or duplicate registrants. Information compiled by the Chief Electoral Officer’s (CEO) Office in West Bengal indicates that over 56.38 lakh registered voters fall within these categories.
It is estimated that approximately 24 lakh are dead voters; around 11 lakh are unable to be located; nearly 20 lakh have changed their address from that which they registered; and more than 1.3 lakh are duplicates. The basis for this figure comes from the mass enumeration process by the Commission, with over 99% of all the forms being digitised.
The verification process has also been the focus of political debate. Opposition Leader Suvendu Adhikari stated that in many areas political consulting firm I-PAC had sent people to fill out the BLO forms without authority, resulting in inaccurate numbers of dead or changed voters. It has been claimed by Mr Adhikari that some BLOs are not aware of who filled out the BLO forms for them, and he has accused the ECI of failing to investigate these discrepancies.
In response to the extensive discrepancies discovered during this verification exercise, the ECI has appointed five more senior IAS Officers to act as Special Roll Observers (SROs) to enhance oversight over the entire area; they will be added to the original twelve already in place. These officers will support the revision process within key areas such as Presidency, Medinipur, Burdwan, Malda and Jalpaiguri.
The draft electoral rolls will be publicly available beginning on 16th December and the final voter list will be published by 14th February 2026. The anticipated assembly election is expected to occur in mid-2026, and thus the Special Intensive Revision currently being conducted will be necessary to assure that the State’s electoral lists are as accurate and reliable as possible.