With barely 21 days left for the assembly elections in five states people across the country have started asking how many voter disputes remain unresolved in West Bengal and whether the Election Commission of India (ECI) will be able to publish the supplementary list in time.
According to sources, the first supplementary list of disputed voters may be released on Friday excluding the names of approximately 8 lakh voters. ECI sources indicate that as of yesterday, resolutions have been made for 2,330,000 names in dispute. The first list is expected to see about 40 per cent of names excluded. Based on this calculation, it appears 800,000 names will be omitted from the total of 2,330,000.
The list under consideration includes nearly 6 million voters. According to the court’s directive, the supplementary list will be released in phases until the final day for submitting nomination papers. The deadline for submitting nominations is April 9, which leaves only 21 days remaining. This raises the question: Will the commission be able to publish the supplementary list in time?
The sources in the commission indicate that on an average 200,000 names are being processed daily. As of March 18, over 2.3 million names have already been processed. However, 3.7 million names are pending and the commission believes it is feasible to consider these 3.7 million voters’ names within the remaining 21 days.
The ECI has reported that in West Bengal SIR, a total of 6.1 million voters have been excluded so far, with 60,000 names under consideration and over 2.3 million resolved. The question arises: if 800,000 names are omitted, how many names could potentially be removed from the voter list? If 40 per cent of the names are excluded, approximately 2.5 million names could be removed from the 6 million under consideration. In total, it is estimated that between 8.5 and 8.6 million names could be removed from the voter list in the state. The question remains what will the excluded voters do? They can appeal to the tribunal.
It has been reported that a software has been developed by the commission to be provided to the judicial officers. Through this software, the names that have been resolved will be compiled into a list and displayed at each booth. The names of those who will be added to the voter list and those who will be excluded will be included in the supplementary list.
According to the sources, the commission is not specifying the reasons for the exclusion of names. This process is taking a considerable amount of time. If the judicial officers are able to complete their work by today, they will inform the commission. Only then will the commission publish the supplementary list within six hours.
The sources indicate that the software has already been completed, and if everything goes well, the list may be published by Friday or Saturday.