Parties seek extension of SIR, flag risk of voters’ exclusion

Bengaluru: Representatives of recognised political parties have urged the Election Commission (EC) to extend the timeline for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls by a year, arguing that no major elections are lined up in the state and a narrow enumeration window could lead to wrongful deletions or exclusion of voters.

The SIR process is due to begin in the state on June 20.

“There are no major elections lined up. So, the SIR enumeration process can be extended by a year as migrant workers, nomadic communities, and families temporarily away from home could be left out of the draft electoral rolls if the exercise is rushed,” Congress spokesperson Ramesh Babu said during an all-party meeting convened by Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer V Anbukumar.

The Election Commission should provide sufficient time for voters to secure supporting documents from revenue authorities, Babu urged.

Flagging concerns over the exclusive reliance on Booth Level Officers (BLOs) for the distribution of enumeration forms to 5.5 crore voters, Congress and AAP representatives argued that lapses or political bias at the BLO level could deprive eligible voters of their franchise.

The BJP questioned how the Election Commission would ensure BLOs made the mandatory three visits to voters’ homes before marking them “unavailable”.

“Currently, there is no mechanism to independently verify whether BLOs visited every household. We suggested that BLOs should upload photographs of locked houses on the BLO application during visits to establish proof of door-to-door visit for enumeration,” said Darshan Jain, state general secretary, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

The parties demanded that Booth Level Agents (BLAs) be granted access to voter facilitation centres to assist voters in submitting enumeration forms.

BJP’s representative S Dattatre suggested that the “progeny mapping” in the current form did not help identify
family relationships sans a proper ‘Vamshavruksha’ (family tree).

While the voter mapping crossed 86 per cent across Karnataka, Bengaluru city remained a concern with only around 65 per cent coverage.

“As per the EC, Hebbal Assembly constituency alone has 26 polling booths with less than 9 per cent mapping. Incomplete verification directly affects the distribution of enumeration forms and eventually exclusion,” Jain rued.

CPI(M) office secretary Balakrishna Shetty objected to the EC seeking fresh documents even from the voters verified during the 2002 SIR exercise.

“Even a minor mismatch in age or gender between electoral records and enumeration forms could lead to notices seeking documentary proof (one of the 11 documents approved by the ECI). If voters failed to respond in time, their names could ultimately be deleted from the final rolls,” Shetty warned.