Kolkata: The office of the state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) has begun issuing hearing notices from Saturday evening, with the process expected to gather pace from Sunday.
Electors are being given seven days to appear for hearings, which are likely to commence on December 27.
In the first phase, around 32 lakh unmapped voters—whose names did not match the 2002 Special Intensive Revision (SIR) but feature in the draft electoral roll—will be called for hearings. The process will be led by 294 Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), one for each Assembly Constituency.
Although notices were to be issued soon after the publication of the draft voter list on December 16, technical glitches in the IT system caused delays. Some District Electoral Officers (DEOs) informed the CEO’s office on Saturday evening that notices had started going out.
Electors who received notices on December 20 will appear for hearings on December 27, while those receiving notices on December 21 will appear on December 28.
Hearings will be conducted at government offices such as those of the District Electoral Officer, Block Development Officer (BDO) or Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO).
According to sources, the state CEO has proposed to the poll panel that electors aged above 85 years be heard at their residences. It has also been proposed that the concerned Booth Level Officers (BLOs) be allowed to remain present during the hearings.
“There are over 1.69 crore electors with logical discrepancies whose names are under screening. A reasonable number of these voters will also be called for hearings,” an Election Commission official said.
During the hearings, electors will be required to produce documents to establish Indian citizenship and voter eligibility. The 11 documents accepted include identity cards of state or central government employees or pension holders; documents issued by post offices, banks, LIC or local authorities before 1987; birth certificates; passports; Madhyamik or other educational certificates; residential certificates issued by state government organisations; forest rights certificates; caste certificates; the National Register of Citizens (applicable only in Assam); family registers maintained by local administrations; and land or house allotment certificates issued by the government.
The notice, hearing and verification phase will continue till February 7, 2026. The final electoral roll is scheduled to be published on February 14.