The Election Commission’s extra list for the West Bengal Elections in 1996 specifically says who can vote in Phase 1 tomorrow. Only those voters whose names have been approved by tribunals and are on this updated list are eligible to vote. This is because of what the Supreme Court said, and is to stop last minute confusion at the places where people actually vote.
What the supplementary list clarifies
The Commission published the first part of this extra list early Wednesday morning, with the names of people approved by the tribunals. You can find both the list of names being added and the list of names being removed on the official website, and the website will also tell you if there are any decisions from the tribunals about a particular voting booth that are still not finalized.
Officials explain the website will show if a voting booth has unresolved cases at the tribunals. Names won’t show up for those booths until the tribunal makes a final decision. While the Election Commission hasn’t given the total number of approvals, individuals can check their own situation online.
Here are the main rules for being able to vote in Phase 1:
– Only names on the updated extra list are allowed to vote.
– Tribunal approvals given by April 21st are good for April 23rd.
– Tribunal approvals given by April 27th are good for April 29th.
How to check your voter status
You can find the lists on the Election Commission’s website by choosing the “add or delete list” and then entering the number of your Assembly constituency and your voting booth. If your name isn’t shown as being looked at by the tribunal, you can also check using your EPIC (voter ID) number.
To do this quickly online:
– Go to the Election Commission website.
– Choose the “add or delete list”.
– Enter your Assembly and voting booth number.
– If you need to, search with your EPIC number.
What pending status means
If the tribunals are still making decisions for a voting booth, the names won’t appear on the website. A voter can only vote in a particular stage once the tribunal has approved their case and the Election Commission has added their name to the extra list for that stage.
Supreme Court directive and timeline
On May 16th, the Supreme Court used Article 142 of the Constitution to rule that anyone approved by a tribunal up to 48 hours before voting must be allowed to vote. The Election Commission publishing this list is following that ruling.
The Court also ordered that the list be published on April 21st, before the first stage of voting in 152 Assembly constituencies. So, the Commission released the first part of the list in the morning and said a more complete updated version would be available by Wednesday evening.
The Commission states that those approved by tribunals by April 21st can vote in Phase 1 on April 23rd. And for Phase 2 on April 29th, voters approved by April 27th are eligible to vote.
Background: revisions and deletions
The list of voters in West Bengal had a Special Intensive Revision, with almost a month of collecting information. A preliminary list on December 16th of last year removed 5,820,899 names. The final revised list, published on February 28th, removed another 546,053 names.
After that, the extra list released on April 6th said that 2,716,393 voters were being reviewed while the tribunals made decisions about them. When you add all these stages together, a total of 9,083,345 names have been removed from the list, according to the figures given.
The Commission says the updated extra list now includes decisions from the tribunals that were finalized late at night, following the Supreme Court’s 48 hour rule. Only people whose names are now on the updated extra list will be able to vote in the first stage of voting tomorrow.
What comes next
This process will happen the same way for the later stages of voting, with the same 48 hour approval rule. For voters, the first thing to do is to check online to make sure their name is on the list before going to the voting booth.
The Commission’s website is the only place to find out for certain if you are eligible to vote. Both the lists of names being added and removed are available, and the website will show the status of each voting booth. Eligible voters can therefore be sure their names are on the list and avoid delays when they go to vote.
