Over 1.36 crore voters flagged in progeny mapping in West Bengal SIR

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has marked over 1.36 crore voters through generation mapping in West Bengal following the first phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process of electoral rolls, according to data shared on Tuesday (December 16). West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) said that the claim and objection period to raise objections on these issues will continue till January 15.

CEO Manoj Kumar Agarwal said after the draft electoral roll was published on the ECI website in the afternoon: “More than 50% of the mismatch during offspring mapping is due to name mismatch of the father. There may be cases where names are legally changed but the software does not recognize it; a proper verification process will solve this problem.”

Mr. Agarwal said that all genuine non-compliances will be easily resolved and hearing notice will be given to other cases. Officials also assured that Stand Level Officers (BLO) have possession of individuals’ data and will carry out verification of such mismatches and discrepancies.

Ancestry mapping is a process where a voter, if not included in the 2002 electoral roll, can establish blood relations with the names in the 2002 list, such as his father, mother, grandparents and others, and thus become a part of the ancestry mapping process. People whose names appear in the 2002 electoral rolls will be included in the scope of self-mapping.

The total number of discrepancy cases is 1.62 crore, found through “logical inconsistencies like father name mismatch, parent age difference of less than 15 or above 50 and more”. However, most voters have multiple inconsistencies; hence, the number of voters with discrepancies in the first phase of the SIR process in West Bengal is 1.36 crore. There were more than 7 categories of discrepancies.

The CEO’s office said Monday that voters can file a complaint with the District Magistrate if they object to any of the discrepancies flagged, and if they are still unhappy with the explanation or findings, they can file a second complaint with the CEO.