Elderly voters aged 85 years and above will no longer be required to visit election offices for hearings, as the Election Commission has decided to conduct such proceedings at their homes to avoid inconvenience and harassment. The announcement was made on Wednesday, with officials stating that the concerned Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) will visit the voter’s residence to conduct the hearing, accompanied by the Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO) and the Booth Level Officer (BLO).
According to sources, the move aims to ensure that senior citizens are not burdened during the verification process under the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The Commission clarified that hearings are conducted only where there is doubt requiring verification.
Under existing rules, voters may be called for hearings in several situations. These include cases where a voter’s name does not appear in the 2002 electoral list, and the ERO finds additional verification necessary, instances where names of family members are also missing from older records, situations involving incorrect information provided during form submission, or cases where forms contain ambiguities that cannot be clearly understood by Booth Level Officers or the Commission.
“In such hearings, voters are required to produce at least one valid document from the list of 11 documents specified by the Commission, excluding Aadhaar in certain cases,” said an EC official.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission has taken a firm stance against lapses in voter list preparation, issuing show-cause notices to several BLOs across the state following the detection of multiple errors in the draft SIR list.
A BLO in the Darjeeling–Siliguri region has been served a notice, along with three others from the Chanditala in Hooghly, Matigara–Naxalbari, and Cooch Behar South assembly constituencies. The Commission has also sought detailed reports from the respective EROs of these areas.
In a separate case, a show-cause notice was issued to the BLO responsible for erroneously listing a councillor of Dankuni Municipality as deceased in the draft voter list. Notices have also been sent to the then Block Development Officer, who was holding additional charge as AERO in the area. Officials said the relevant documents have since been received and necessary corrections will be incorporated.
Similar notices have been issued to BLOs in Siliguri and Cooch Behar South for incorrect entries related to deceased voters.
“Preliminary observations suggest deliberate negligence in these cases. Affected voters will still be required to submit Form 6 due to procedural requirements,” said the official.
In a more stringent move, the Commission has issued show-cause notices to BLOs of seven booths in the Beleghata assembly constituency, warning of disciplinary action if satisfactory explanations are not provided within 24 hours. Allegations against them include irregularities in voter list revision, lapses in house-to-house surveys, failure to update information despite submission of forms, neglect of applications for corrections, and inadequate inspections.
Emphasising the importance of an accurate voter list ahead of elections, the Commission said negligence at any stage of electoral roll preparation undermines the democratic process. Officials warned that if lapses are proven, strict administrative action—including suspension or removal from duty—may be taken. A district election office official stated that there would be no leniency in election-related work and that complaints would be dealt with firmly.
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