Muslim-majority districts Murshidabad and Malda in West Bengal have recorded the highest number of voters whose documents remain pending verification, according to the final electoral rolls published by the Election Commission of India after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.
Data released by the Commission shows that 60.06 lakh voters across the state have been marked as “under adjudication,” indicating that their documents are still awaiting scrutiny by judicial officers.
Murshidabad leads with 11.01 lakh voters under adjudication, followed by Malda with 8.28 lakh. Both districts border Bangladesh and have substantial Muslim populations — 66 per cent in Murshidabad and 51 per cent in Malda, according to the 2011 Census.
Other border districts also rank among the top five. North 24 Parganas has 5.91 lakh voters under adjudication, South 24 Parganas has 5.22 lakh, and Uttar Dinajpur has 4.80 lakh. These districts also have sizeable minority populations and share stretches of the India–Bangladesh border.
Beyond these, notable numbers of pending cases have been reported in Purba Bardhaman (3.65 lakh), Howrah (2.89 lakh), Nadia (2.67 lakh) and Birbhum (2.02 lakh). At the lower end, Kalimpong (6,790) and Jhargram (6,682) have the fewest voters awaiting adjudication.
Officials from the Election Commission said that voters marked “under adjudication” have been retained in the rolls to ensure that no eligible elector is removed while verification is ongoing. The adjudication process will continue even after the publication of the final rolls, with supplementary lists to be issued when necessary.
An official stated that any correction or deletion would be carried out only after proper inquiry.
Following the SIR exercise, West Bengal’s total electorate has decreased by 8.30 per cent, from 7.66 crore earlier to just over 7.04 crore in the final rolls.
