Summary
In West Bengal, India, more than nine million people have lost their voting rights after the Election Commission revised voter lists before state elections. Many affected voters are from the Muslim community, mainly due to differences in name records and proof of residency.
Key Facts
- Over nine million people in West Bengal were removed from the voter list after a special revision process.
- This is nearly 12% of the state’s 76 million registered voters.
- About six million were removed because they were declared absent or deceased; three million face legal challenges before special tribunals.
- Tribunals will likely not resolve most cases before the elections.
- Name mismatches and lack of supporting documents caused many removals, as in the case of Nabijan Mondal, who used different names on her voter ID and other official documents.
- West Bengal has a large Muslim population, about 27% of its total population, and this community was disproportionately affected by the voter list changes.
- Districts with large Muslim populations, such as Murshidabad and North 24 Parganas, saw the highest number of deletions.
- The Supreme Court ruled that those with pending tribunal cases cannot vote in the upcoming election but allowed for possible supplemental voter lists.
