MANGALURU: Despite the publication of the final Special Intensive Revision (SIR) electoral roll, several concerns remain unresolved, with activists expressing apprehension that the deletion of genuine voters’ names, discrepancies in the lists and difficulties in the verification process could pose fresh challenges to voters, particularly during future revisions.
While election officials have assured those whose names are missing that they can get them included by filing Form 6, activists question whether this would offer a lasting solution or leave voters vulnerable to the same scrutiny during the next SIR.
The concern stems from the difficulties faced by voters during the current exercise, particularly those who could not establish a link with the electoral roll prepared during the previous SIR in 2002.
Activists point out that many genuine voters, including entire families, were missing from the 2002 list. They subsequently applied through Form 6, got their names included and continued to vote in elections ranging from gram panchayat polls to the Lok Sabha for more than two decades. Yet, during the present SIR, they received notices citing “unmapped with last SIR.”
Their children, who were not eligible to vote in 2002 but have since become voters, faced difficulty. Unable to establish the required mapping with the earlier list through their parents, they too received notices and were asked to appear for hearings.
For many, the process meant visiting hearing centres, waiting in queues, obtaining tokens and appearing before Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs) with the required documents.
Activists have also cited cases in which errors in names in the 2002 roll had subsequently been corrected, but voters were still issued notices during the present revision as the past SIR had errors.
KPCC spokesperson MG Hegde, who has been one of the leaders leading the opposition to the SIR exercise, said the Election Commission should consider the present final list as the basis for future revisions once the names of genuine voters deleted during the exercise are restored.
“It is true that names deleted during the SIR can be added through Form 6 and the person can continue to vote. But what about the problem in the future? What about the next SIR? If the same yardstick is followed, officials will again ask these families to produce documents,” he noted.
“Instead, the Election Commission should consider the present final list as the final draft. Once the names of genuine voters deleted during this revision are included, let that list be declared final,” Hegde opined.
Another concern flagged by activists is the discrepancy between the Kannada and English versions of the electoral rolls. They allege that the English list contains jumbled letters and symbols because of errors in transliteration, while the Kannada version has the details correctly.
Hegde said the errors needed to be rectified to avoid confusion during election procedures and demanded the authorities to ensure that voter identity cards were also issued with accurate details.
He attributed the discrepancies to software-related problems, an issue that activists have been raising since the beginning of the SIR exercise.
“From day one, we have been speaking about the software problem. Why should such software exist? Why should there be a centralised system where every decision has to be taken? Even during the hearing of notices, approval had to be given through the centralised system,” Hegde said.
He argued that the process should be decentralised, with Booth Level Officers (BLOs), who are familiar with voters in their respective areas, being allowed to take decisions at the local level.
“The local BLO knows who is who. Let the BLO decide. If any decision is found to be wrong, the Election Commission can take strict action. This will help people and also ensure that officials fall in line,” he said.
The issue has also raised questions among activists about the functioning of the electoral revision process in Karnataka, which is governed by the Congress. The party had appointed Booth Level Agents (BLAs) across the State to monitor the exercise, while the administration was also under a Congress government.
“Congress leaders themselves are claiming that deletions have taken place despite the party having appointed BLA-1 and BLA-2 across the State. If this is the situation in a Congress-ruled State, what would be the situation in States where the Congress is not in power?” an activist, who did not want to be named, asked.
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