EC’s post-SIR re-enrolment drive will not include West Bengal cases pending before appellate tribunals
The Election Commission has excluded over 20 lakh voters in West Bengal with pending tribunal cases from its new door-to-door re-enrolment drive. This decision creates two separate paths for voter registration, potentially leaving tribunal appellants waiting years for resolution compared to the faster Form 6 process.
Why it matters
It highlights a significant administrative hurdle in electoral participation for millions of citizens, raising concerns about disenfranchisement and bureaucratic inefficiency.
The Election Commission’s (EC) special “door-to-door” drive to re-enrol any voter left behind during the SIR process through Form 6 will not be applicable to the more than 20 lakh voters in West Bengal whose cases are pending before the appellate tribunals. This could create two parallel re-enrolment routes, one through the tribunals and one through Form 6 applications to Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and as the EC has directed Form 6 applicants to be cleared within one or two months, the tribunal appellants could wait several years.
A senior EC official told The Hindu that while Booth Level Officers (BLOs) would re-check if any voters are left out among the ASDD (Absent/Shifted/Dead/Duplicate) list which was issued after the Enumeration Phase, those whose cases are in the tribunals “is different as it is already under adjudication”.
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