An investigative report by The Reporters' Collective, published on January 6, 2026, revealed that an untested software deployed by the Election Commission of India (ECI) flagged a staggering 3.66 crore voters across West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh as suspicious. Specifically, 1.31 crore voters in West Bengal and 2.35 crore voters in Madhya Pradesh were red-flagged for 'logical discrepancies' during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. These discrepancies were identified by a software relying on hastily digitized and often unreliable physical voter lists dating back over two decades. Credible sources, including The Wire and The Hindu, corroborate the core findings of the report, highlighting the ECI's ad hoc and opaque implementation of the SIR process. The ECI had previously informed the Supreme Court that its deduplication software was defective and was last used in 2023. However, The Reporters' Collective found that the ECI reactivated this software, along with a second algorithm-based tool, midway through the SIR in 12 states without issuing clear written instructions, protocols, or manuals to ground officials. This lack of proper guidelines left booth-level officers to work with discretion rather than established procedures. The activation of this software without rigorous verification processes has put the voting rights of millions in jeopardy, leading to widespread confusion and distress among citizens. The issue has also raised suspicions that the ECI's electoral roll purification exercise is being used as a de facto citizenship screening mechanism, particularly in states like West Bengal. While the number of flagged cases in West Bengal reportedly dropped to 95 lakh by January 2, 2026, from an initial 1.31 crore, the ECI has not provided an explanation for how the 34 lakh cases were resolved. More broadly, approximately 6.56 crore names have been removed from draft electoral rolls across 12 states and Union Territories during SIR 2.0, with 58.20 lakh deletions in West Bengal alone. The final electoral rolls are slated for publication in February 2026.