SIR
Bengal’s chief electoral officer (CEO) posted on the X handle on Wednesday that “cases rejected by the judicial officers and the appeals at appellate tribunals cannot be decided by the ERO/DEO”. The post on the X handle added that a Supreme Court order on March 10, 2026, said: “Orders passed by the judicial officers will not be subjected to appeal before any executive/administrative officer. ” Electoral registration officers (ERO) are the primary authority to take decisions on inclusion or exclusion of voters from the electoral roll.
A district election officer (DEO) said since that letter did not make it clear whether voters who have appealed to the tribunals can be re-enrolled through Form 6, it led to confusion. Sources in the office of Bengal CEO said filing Form 6 – meant for inclusion of new voters – was not allowed for voters whose names were removed by judicial officers.
The CEO’s office had earlier said that any “left out eligible voter” from the list of absentee, shifted, dead and deleted (ASDD) voters can file Form 6 online by visiting the website of chief electoral officer (CEO), West Bengal. “This was the instruction ahead of April assembly polls and remains so this time too,” said the official. Wednesday’s post on the X handle cleared the confusion. First-time voters can also apply online.
Sources told TOI that though KMC polls will be held based on the electoral roll published on July 1, the law allowed anyone whose name enters the voters’ list till the last date of nomination to be able to vote.
“If an elector’s name has been deleted from the electoral roll and the case has been referred to the tribunal, the BLO will not provide Form 6 to the elector, unless otherwise directed by EC,” Swapan Mondal, general secretary of Vote Karmi O BLO Aikya Mancha, said. “But given the pace of decision on the appeals, most voters are likely to miss voting in KMC polls,” said an official.