ECI to release draft voter lists for West Bengal, Rajasthan, Goa, Puducherry, Lakshadweep today

The draft rolls will be made available in both printed and digital formats.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) will release the draft electoral rolls for five states and Union Territories, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Goa, Puducherry, and Lakshadweep, on Tuesday as part of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists.

The draft rolls will be made available in both printed and digital formats.

Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) and district election officers (DEOs) will provide copies to recognised political parties, and the rolls will also be uploaded on official CEO and DEO websites. Lists highlighting absent, shifted, deceased, and duplicate voters will similarly be published for transparency.

The SIR phase 2 process aims to clean up electoral rolls by removing entries of dead, shifted, duplicate, or untraceable voters.

Deletions reportedly range from 7.5-8.5% in most states, with Lakshadweep seeing a lower adjustment of around 2.5%.

In West Bengal alone, nearly 58 lakh electors may be removed, while Goa could see roughly 1 lakh deletions out of its 11.8 lakh electorate. Rajasthan is expected to strike off 7.5-8% of 5.46 crore electors.

The deletions follow changes in the Representation of the People Act, 2010, which required proper verification for removal or amendment of voter entries, a process that had not been fully implemented until now, leading to the accumulation of outdated or duplicate entries over time.

The number of final deletions will depend on how many voters respond to notices and provide the required documentation proving their eligibility. Election officials emphasised that the process is designed to ensure accuracy and prevent bogus voting.

For other states, the SIR schedules have been extended -- Tamil Nadu and Gujarat until December 14 (draft rolls on December 19), Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Andaman & Nicobar Islands until December 18 (draft rolls on December 23), and Uttar Pradesh until December 26 (draft rolls on December 31). Kerala’s draft rolls will also be published on December 23 after the revision period ends.