The ECI believes around 9.083 million voters have been taken off the rolls – that’s a bit over 11.85% of the 76.6 million people who were registered to vote at the end of October last year. This is the biggest change to West Bengal’s voter lists in a long time.
What the ECI data shows about West Bengal SIR
By February 28th, 6.366 million names (about 8.3% of all voters) had already been removed since the review started in November. Another 6.006 million voters were being checked more closely. And, after that closer look, over 2.716 million more were removed.
Of the voters who were carefully examined by officials and the courts, about 45.22% were found not to be eligible to vote, but over 3.268 million were allowed to stay on the list. This shows how much work was done, and how quickly it was done, to confirm who is eligible.
The ECI says the final numbers might change a tiny bit when judicial officers finish using electronic signatures for a few remaining cases. To be open and honest, the ECI has put details by district on the public record so each area is held responsible for its work.
A total of 6,006,675 cases were sent to a court for review. Of those, 5,984,512 have been finished with electronic signatures, and 22,163 have been decided, but are waiting for the electronic signatures to be completed. These last steps are not expected to cause any big changes.
How the adjudication process unfolded
The ECI said they followed the standard rules and schedule. Anything more people added to the list at this point would have to be legal and approved by the right authorities. Officials say their main aim was to make the list accurate, not just to have a certain number of names on it.
Several districts had a lot of names removed, both in total numbers and as a percentage of the people who were checked. Murshidabad had the highest number of removals (over 455,000 of 1.101 million being checked) which is about 41.33% of those being checked being removed.
Where deletions were concentrated
North 24 Parganas removed over 325,000 names from 591,000 being checked, and Malda removed over 239,000 names from 828,000 cases. South 24 Parganas removed almost 223,000, Purba Bardhaman 209,000, and Nadia 298,000 after the review.
Nadia and North 24 Parganas had a particularly high percentage of removals – 77.86% and 55.08% respectively – from the people being checked in those districts. These districts have a lot of people from the Matua community, and this will probably be something politicians will talk about.
Changes were also seen in cities. More than to 28,000 voters were removed in Kolkata South (which includes the Bhabanipur Assembly area), meaning 36.19% of those checked at the review stage were removed. Roughly 39,000 were removed in Kolkata North, which is about 64%.
However, it’s important to understand what the percentages mean. These high rates are the number of removals within the smaller group of voters who were flagged for review, and not across the entire district. So, the intensity of removals isn’t the same everywhere in the state.
Interpreting high-percentage deletions
This detail is important when looking at the election and trying to predict how many people will vote. The percentage of removals across the whole state is a little over 11.85% of the original 76.6 million voters, but in some areas that were checked closely, the numbers were much higher.
The Supreme Court said no to a request to delay freezing the voter list. The final, updated list was published and the voter rolls for the first round of voting were locked at midnight on Monday, April 6, 2026. This is how things are normally done before people start voting.
Legal framework, roll freeze, and appeals
West Bengal will have two rounds of voting: 152 seats on April 23 and 142 seats on April 29. The list for the second round will be frozen on April 9. These dates mean the lists used by people working at the polls, political parties, and observers on election day are set.
People who are unhappy about being removed from the list can go to special courts set up because of a Supreme Court order. But it isn’t yet fully clear if people who the courts later say should be on the list will actually be allowed to vote in the upcoming election, now that the list is frozen.
Political parties now need to quickly change their plans because of this new voter list. They’ll need to check their strategies for each voting area, their goals for how many people will vote, and their lists of people to visit at their homes. Areas with a lot of removals at the review stage might be harder to get people to vote in, and parties will need to send new messages about who is eligible.
Implications for parties, administration, and voters
The election workers have two jobs to do at the same time: to make sure the voter lists are correct and easy to use, and to tell people how to appeal if they’ve been removed. They also need to have strong help lines and digital tools so people can check their registration. Because time is short, it’s important to be clear at each voting area to avoid confusion.
People should immediately check if they are registered to vote using the official websites or their local election office. If they think they were wrongly removed, they can go to the courts. You still need a valid ID card when you go to vote, but being on the list is even more important.
As West Bengal gets closer to the most important part of the campaign, the review in West Bengal has changed how people will vote. While the final numbers might change a little when the remaining electronic signatures are added, it’s clear that the voter lists have been completely updated using data, before the 2026 Assembly elections.
