ECI weighs appointment of micro observers for Bengal electoral roll revision

The Election Commission of India (ECI) is considering the deployment of micro observers during the second phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll in West Bengal, officials in Kolkata said on Sunday. The second phase of the three-tier process begins after the draft roll is published on 16 December.

This stage involves the filing of claims and objections, along with the notice period for issuing, hearing, verifying and disposing of applications, all of which will be carried out simultaneously by the Electoral Registration Officers (EROs).

According to officials in the chief electoral officer’s (CEO) office in West Bengal, micro observers would function alongside the 12 special observers, serving or retired IAS officers, who have already been assigned by the ECI to supervise the revision. The exercise has been under way since 4 November.

The 12 observers have been summoned to New Delhi for a meeting at the ECI headquarters on Monday, where fresh instructions for the second stage will be issued. One of the points expected to be discussed is the mechanism for appointing micro observers.

“Almost all opposition parties have asked for micro observers to ensure there is no manipulation at this stage,” an official in the CEO’s office said, adding that the Commission had “found merit” in these concerns.

Once the second stage is completed, the final version of the electoral roll will be published on 14 February. The announcement of dates for the West Bengal Assembly elections is expected shortly afterwards.

Digitisation of enumeration forms is nearing completion, and more than 55 lakh entries have already been identified for removal from the voters’ list. These include deceased voters, those who have moved away, untraceable individuals, duplicate entries and other ineligible names.

The commission has also instructed electoral officers to intensify “progeny” mapping, after irregularities were found in parental details in the current voter rolls as of 27 October. The exercise compares parental information on the latest list with records from 2002, when the last SIR was conducted in the state.

As of 27 October, the total number of voters in West Bengal stood at 7,66,37,529.

With IANS inputs