A SIR-marred turnout in West Bengal

West Bengal, where the assembly polls concluded on Wednesday, recorded a voter turnout of close to 92%, the highest in the State’s electoral history according to provisional figures released by the ECI. However, as seen recently in Tamil Nadu, the record turnout was not driven by a sharp increase in voter participation, but by the low base effect of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls shrinking the size of the State’s electorate. 

The SIR exercise, which happened in a highly controversial manner in West Bengal, brought down the electorate by nearly 11% from 7.66 crore to 6.26 crore.