EC asks Bengal officials not to call ‘unmapped’ voters for hearings during SIR
The directive said extracts of the 2002 electoral rolls may be forwarded to the concerned DEO for verification as per Election Commission guidelines.
- Dec 28, 2025,
- Updated Dec 28, 2025 3:25 PM IST
The Election Commission has issued fresh instructions to district election officials in West Bengal, directing that voters marked as “unmapped” in the Booth Level Officer (BLO) app should not be called for hearings during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.
The directive was issued by the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, on Saturday. It said the issue has arisen due to incomplete conversion of the PDF version of the 2002 electoral rolls into CSV format. The 2002 rolls were the last to be revised during an earlier SIR in the state. Because of this, linkage failures have occurred in the BLO app for a number of electors.
The CEO’s office said that many electors marked as “unmapped” in the system have valid self or progeny linkage with the hard copy of the 2002 electoral rolls. These linkages have been authenticated by district election officers (DEOs) and published on the CEO’s website.
According to the instructions, hearing notices that have been automatically generated in such cases should not be served on voters and should be kept at the level of the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) or Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO).
The directive said extracts of the 2002 electoral rolls may be forwarded to the concerned DEO for verification as per Election Commission guidelines. After verification, EROs or AEROs may take an appropriate decision and upload the necessary documents for disposal of the cases.
It also allows Booth Level Officers to be deputed for field verification, including taking photographs of the electors concerned for uploading in the system.
“This directive might be for the time being. If it is felt that hearings are at all required in some cases, that will be done only after a proper verification,” an official told PTI.
The CEO’s office clarified that if discrepancies are found later, either during scrutiny of the hard copy of the 2002 electoral rolls or after receiving complaints, the electors concerned may be called for hearings after due serving of notices.
The instructions have been circulated to all DEOs as part of the ongoing SIR exercise in West Bengal.
(With inputs from PTI)
The Election Commission has issued fresh instructions to district election officials in West Bengal, directing that voters marked as “unmapped” in the Booth Level Officer (BLO) app should not be called for hearings during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.
The directive was issued by the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, on Saturday. It said the issue has arisen due to incomplete conversion of the PDF version of the 2002 electoral rolls into CSV format. The 2002 rolls were the last to be revised during an earlier SIR in the state. Because of this, linkage failures have occurred in the BLO app for a number of electors.
The CEO’s office said that many electors marked as “unmapped” in the system have valid self or progeny linkage with the hard copy of the 2002 electoral rolls. These linkages have been authenticated by district election officers (DEOs) and published on the CEO’s website.
According to the instructions, hearing notices that have been automatically generated in such cases should not be served on voters and should be kept at the level of the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) or Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO).
The directive said extracts of the 2002 electoral rolls may be forwarded to the concerned DEO for verification as per Election Commission guidelines. After verification, EROs or AEROs may take an appropriate decision and upload the necessary documents for disposal of the cases.
It also allows Booth Level Officers to be deputed for field verification, including taking photographs of the electors concerned for uploading in the system.
“This directive might be for the time being. If it is felt that hearings are at all required in some cases, that will be done only after a proper verification,” an official told PTI.
The CEO’s office clarified that if discrepancies are found later, either during scrutiny of the hard copy of the 2002 electoral rolls or after receiving complaints, the electors concerned may be called for hearings after due serving of notices.
The instructions have been circulated to all DEOs as part of the ongoing SIR exercise in West Bengal.
(With inputs from PTI)