The electoral roll revision, an annual exercise to update the voter list, will start on November 18, but the state administration and political parties are worried over meeting the aim of an error-free voter list amid pandemic curbs.

“Revision of the electoral roll is very important this year as Bengal goes to polls next year. The ECI and political parties would be keen on drafting an error-free roll. But it is still not clear if that is possible amid several restrictions because of the pandemic,” said a senior government official.

According to sources, this year electoral roll revision would be a one-month affair, till December 15. Earlier, it used to take three months.

Booth-level officers and agents of political parties have to follow Covid-19 protocols.

“As roll revision in Bengal is to a great extent a political exercise, it is still not clear how political parties would be able to persuade new voters to apply for inclusion of names this year,” said an official.

In Bengal, political parties visit homes, especially in rural areas, to encourage all eligible voters to apply for inclusion of their names on the voter list.

A district magistrate (DM) said that representatives of political parties had contacted him, voicing concerns. “Even if representatives of political parties carry out this exercise by following Covid 19 protocol, they are not sure if villagers would allow them to visit their homes,” the DM said.

In rural areas, representatives of political parties also help new voter applicants with collecting relevant documents from government offices.

An official said political parties had raised questions on whether they could undertake such an extensive exercise given the strict protocols in government offices. “As an assembly of people is not allowed, political parties fear they won’t be able to help enough applicants secure the required documents,” said the official.

These fears are not baseless, said sources, pointing out that the administration is facing trouble in pre-revision activities, which include trying to clean up the electoral roll by deleting voters who died or changed their address.

“We could not undertake this process properly this year as we could not send teams to addresses of such voters for verification,” said an official.

In case of electoral roll revision, authorities would need to hold hearings for inclusion or deletion of any name. “It is still not clear how it would be done in case a number of objections or claims are filed (demanding inclusion or deletion of names) as disposal of claims and objections have to be over by January 5,” said a source.