EC Blames Technical Glitches for 3.1 Million 'Unmapped' Voters in Bengal Voter Roll Revision

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A technical glitch has left 3.1 million voters in West Bengal without a link to the 2002 voter roll, according to the Election Commission (EC). The issue arose during the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) exercise, which aimed to update the voter rolls in the state. The EC has acknowledged that the problem was caused by incomplete conversion of PDF data to CSV format, which hindered the linking of electors to the 2002 roll. As a result, these voters were categorized as 'unmapped' and were called for hearings to verify their documents. The EC has stated that the number of 'unmapped' voters is likely to decrease as the hearing process progresses. In fact, many of these voters were found to have their names or those of their relatives listed in the hard copies of the 2002 electoral roll, but were not showing up on the BLO app due to technical issues. The exercise began on November 4 and the draft rolls were released on December 16. The EC recorded 76.64 million electors in West Bengal as of October 27, 2025, with 70.82 million having their electoral forms digitized. However, 5.82 million forms could not be collected, with 2.42 million due to death, 1.22 million due to untraceability or absence, and 1.99 million due to permanent shifting. The EC has assured that voters who are called for hearings will be given the opportunity to submit their documents and prove their authenticity. The hearing process is ongoing, and the EC has asked BLOs to visit 'unmapped' electors and take their photographs to upload them. The issue has sparked a political battle in the state, with the Trinamool Congress accusing the EC of working on the orders of the BJP to delete 15 million voters from the electoral roll. The BJP has hit back, stating that the EC is doing its job and that voters who have grievances should approach the EC or the Supreme Court. As the hearing process continues, the EC is optimistic that the number of 'unmapped' voters will decrease, and that the voter rolls will be updated successfully.