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It is not yet clear whether West Bengal voters whose appeals against deletion are pending before appellate tribunals can use the Election Commission of India’s new special enrolment drive to apply through Form 6. The ECI’s 26 September 2026 announcement says people left out during or after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) may apply for inclusion through continuous updation, but it does not specifically address this group. Hindustan Times reported that district officials lacked written clarification on the pending-appellant question.
What is unclear about the special drive?
The unresolved question is whether the 22.21 lakh deletion appellants with cases pending before tribunals may submit Form 6 while those appeals are still awaiting a decision. Hindustan Times reported that district election officials had no written clarification and described differing views among officials; those accounts are not a final ECI ruling. The West Bengal Congress also sought clarification, according to the report.
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On 26 September 2026, the ECI said that people whose names were left out during or after SIR may apply to the concerned Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) for inclusion through continuous updation. It also said Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs), District Election Officers (DEOs), and EROs would launch a special enrolment drive. The statement does not expressly say whether it covers people whose deletion appeals are pending.
The distinction matters: applying is not the same as having an application decided, and neither an application nor a pending appeal by itself establishes that a name has been restored to the electoral roll.
What do the reported figures count?
Hindustan Times reported that the ECI told the Supreme Court in September 2026 that 3.8 million appeals had been filed before West Bengal’s appellate tribunals, including 2.2 million deletion appellants seeking inclusion. These are figures attributed to the ECI submission through a newspaper report, not a specific ruling on whether those appellants may file Form 6 during the new drive.
The Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, recorded 64,452,609 electors on the final SIR roll published on 28 February 2026. Its note separately listed 6,006,675 cases as “Under Adjudication,” with names approved by judicial officers to be added through a later supplementary list. That adjudication count is not interchangeable with the 2.2 million deletion appellants reported by Hindustan Times: the figures describe different categories and should not be treated as equivalent.
How the application routes differ
Continuous updation and the newly announced drive
The ECI’s press note, carried by the Press Information Bureau on 26 September 2026, states: “Any person whose name has got left out during SIR or thereafter, and any person including young/ first-time voter, may apply to the concerned ERO, for inclusion of their names in the electoral rolls under the process of continuous updation.” This is general guidance for people left out; it does not specifically address pending tribunal appeals.
The earlier draft-roll claims period
The CEO West Bengal’s ASDD page describes people who appeared in the 2025 electoral rolls but were absent from the 2026 draft roll. It refers to a draft-roll claims period from 16 December 2025 through 15 January 2026, when aggrieved people could use Form 6 with a declaration and supporting documents. Those dates belong to the earlier draft-roll process; they are not a stated deadline for the newly announced special drive.
Forms and current instructions
The CEO’s materials identify Form 6 for inclusion as a new voter, Form 8 for shifting, correction, or replacement of an EPIC, and Form 7 for objections or deletion. Which route and supporting material apply to an individual case depends on current instructions and circumstances. Check the live ECI or CEO West Bengal portal, or contact the relevant ERO for up-to-date requirements rather than relying on the historical draft-roll dates.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What voters with pending appeals can do now
- Check the current status of your name on the official electoral-roll service or with your ERO.
- Ask the ERO or CEO West Bengal whether a person with a deletion appeal pending before a tribunal may submit Form 6 through the special drive, and request the current written instructions.
- Keep the tribunal appeal and any application or correspondence separate in your records. Filing an application does not itself show that an appeal has been decided or that a name has been added to the roll.
- Use only current official instructions for forms, supporting documents, and deadlines; the 16 December 2025–15 January 2026 draft-roll claims period has passed.
The Ministry of Law and Justice’s 25 July 2026 overview describes SIR safeguards including prior notice and repeated visits, reason-recorded deletions, draft rolls and claims or objections, appeal routes, and political-party Booth Level Agents. It also summarizes the Supreme Court’s 27 May 2026 decision as upholding SIR as within the ECI’s statutory mandate. That broader procedural context does not answer the specific Form 6 question for pending tribunal appellants.
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