Thirty-nine-year-old Arpita Banerjee from Baranagar, West Bengal, has battled health and neurological problems all her life. Though she was listed in the 2025 voter list and the December 2025 Special Intensive Revision (SIR) draft rolls, she was called for a hearing over a "logical discrepancy" due to a surname spelling mismatch with her father’s records. At the hearing, Arpita and her 76-year-old father waited for three hours before officials took her photo and accepted her disability certificate. This experience left her traumatised. Other disabled voters report similar struggles. Lokman Sheikh, a visually impaired man from Murshidabad, waited in a regular queue without special facilities, despite the notice citing a "logical discrepancy" in his name. An unnamed parent of a non-verbal autistic boy from Kolkata said their family endured a five-hour wait for a hearing, causing severe anxiety for their son. West Bengal had over 5 lakh registered disabled voters in the 2024 Lok Sabha rolls. The Election Commission of India (ECI) allows home voting for disabled electors. On January 7, during the SIR process, ECI directed that people with disabilities submitting requests may be exempted from physical hearings. If notices were sent, officials should verify voters at home. However, activists say these orders have not eased hardships. Shampa Sengupta, a disability rights activist, said many voters get only two days' notice to appear. This leaves disabled voters stressed but forced to attend hearings. A senior West Bengal ECI official said Booth Level Officers handle exemption requests, as they know the local families. V. Muralidharan, general secretary of the National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled, warned of unnecessary harassment during voter roll revisions. He said many disabled persons suffer disrespect and fear disenfranchisement, with the revision resembling a citizenship verification exercise. Published on February 6, 2026, 9:51 pm IST.