The Election Commission of India’s (ECI) re-verification exercise under the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal has led to the identification of nearly eight lakh additional excludable voters within a span of just seven days, officials said on Monday.

The re-verification of data submitted in enumeration forms collected by booth-level officers (BLOs) was carried out between December 3 and December 11, coinciding with the final phase of submission and digitisation of the forms.

According to sources in the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), the total number of identified excludable voters stood at around 50.22 lakh on December 3, which surged to 58.08 lakh by December 11 following the scrutiny.

The number of deceased voters rose from approximately 23 lakh to 24.18 lakh during the same period. Similarly, the count of voters who have permanently shifted residence increased sharply from around 17 lakh to nearly 20 lakh.

The most significant jump was seen in the category of untraceable voters, which climbed from about eight lakh to nearly 12 lakh within a week.

The only category that recorded a marginal decline was the combined count of duplicate voters and those marked excludable for other reasons, which fell slightly from 1.50 lakh on December 3 to 1.37 lakh on December 11, officials added.

The first phase of the three-stage SIR process, which began on November 4, will conclude on December 16 with the publication of the draft electoral rolls.

The second phase will involve the filing of claims and objections, along with a notice and hearing process, to be conducted simultaneously by Electoral Registration Officers (EROs). As many as 10 EROs will handle hearings in each of the state’s 294 Assembly constituencies.

The final voters’ list is scheduled to be published on February 14, 2026, after which the Election Commission is expected to announce the dates for the West Bengal Assembly elections.