Election Commission Releases Third Supplementary List Ahead of Bengal Polls

The Election Commission on Saturday released the third supplementary voter list as part of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls for 2026. However, the poll body did not disclose the number of additions or deletions included in this latest update.

This third list comes just a day after the publication of the second supplementary list on Friday night. Earlier in the week, on March 23, the Commission had issued the first list of voters marked as “Under Adjudication,” but refrained from sharing detailed figures on how many cases had been resolved or how many names were removed, drawing criticism from multiple quarters.

A “supplementary list” is essentially an updated register of voters added after the publication of the final electoral roll. These updates typically include newly registered voters, corrections to existing entries, and names reinstated after verification. Alongside these, deletion lists have also been issued, documenting names removed due to reasons such as death, duplication, or change of residence. Officials stated that releasing these lists in phases is intended to ensure both inclusivity and accuracy in the voter rolls ahead of the upcoming elections.

The revision exercise has already led to a significant reduction in the number of registered voters. Following the enumeration phase, approximately 58 lakh names were removed, bringing the electorate down from 7.66 crore to 7.08 crore due to factors like death, migration, duplication, and untraceability.

Subsequently, the post-SIR electoral roll published on February 28 further reduced the number of valid voters to just over 7.04 crore. Meanwhile, more than 60 lakh names remain under judicial scrutiny.

Polling for the 294-seat West Bengal Assembly is scheduled to take place in two phases on April 23 and April 29, with counting set for May 4. Booth-wise voter lists were uploaded to the Election Commission’s website late in the evening, around 11:30 pm.​