Bengaluru: Facing mounting concern over notices being issued to voters during the second phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Karnataka election authorities have begun a fresh scrutiny of enumeration forms to identify and rectify discrepancies before citizens are summoned for hearings.
The exercise assumes significance as nearly 67 lakh electors have been placed in two categories that require further verification. While 43,81,335 voters have been classified under anomaly or logical discrepancy, another 23,45,500 have been placed in the no-mapping category.
The classification has caused anxiety among voters, particularly those receiving notices directing them to appear before Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) with documents to establish their eligibility and citizenship.
Officials in the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Karnataka, however, said the categorisation should not be interpreted as an automatic direction for every voter to appear before an ERO.
The department has ordered another round of scrutiny of enumeration data to identify mistakes that can be corrected at the level of Booth Level Officers (BLOs) and EROs. The aim is to ensure that genuine voters are not forced to undergo a hearing merely because of errors in data entry or family mapping.
“Each case is being examined individually. Wherever the discrepancy can be established or corrected from the available records, the voter need not necessarily be called for a hearing,” an official said.
Officials said several cases have emerged where family relationships were incorrectly mapped during the exercise. Such errors are particularly noticeable in large families, where children have sometimes been linked with the wrong parent.
In some cases involving families with more than five children, officials have divided the children’s records between the father and mother while undertaking the mapping process. The authorities are now rechecking such entries to ensure that the relationship between voters and their parents is correctly reflected in the electoral database.
Twin children have presented another category of cases requiring individual scrutiny. Since twins may have identical dates of birth, officials said the existing records sometimes create a logical discrepancy. Such cases are being examined with the help of supporting documents, including birth certificates where required.
Election officials have also detected errors involving the gender details of electors, including transgender voters. Karnataka has more than 45,000 transgender persons, but only about 4,500 had provided their details to the Election Commission during the earlier exercise, officials said.
Officials said there could be cases where the gender recorded in the 2003 SIR database differs from the person’s present gender identity. Such discrepancies are being examined separately, with supporting medical or other appropriate documentation sought wherever necessary.
Another major source of discrepancies is incorrect mapping by BLOs. Officials have found instances in which children belonging to one family were linked to another family living in the same apartment complex.
BLOs have been directed to verify such cases and submit the corrected information to the concerned EROs. Similar mistakes have been found in the ages recorded for voters and their parents.
Officials said some electors were placed under the logical discrepancy category because the age gap between the voter and parent appeared inconsistent. In several such cases, the problem was reportedly traced to incorrect data entered by BLOs.
The CEO office has therefore instructed field officials to undertake corrective action wherever such discrepancies can be established from existing records.
Authorities have also sought to reassure voters that inclusion in the anomaly or no-mapping category does not necessarily mean they will receive a notice. The back-end verification process is continuing, and officials are attempting to resolve as many cases as possible before the hearing stage.
The exercise comes amid heightened public scrutiny of the SIR process, particularly over documentation requirements and the manner in which voter records are being mapped with earlier electoral databases.
HC seeks ECI response on use of Anganwadi workers as BLOs
Meanwhile, the Karnataka High Court has sought a response from the Election Commission of India (ECI) on a petition challenging the deployment of Anganwadi workers as Booth Level Officers during the electoral revision exercise.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice K S Hemalekha issued notice to the ECI while hearing a public interest litigation filed by the Davanagere committee of the Karnataka State Anganwadi Workers and Helpers Union.
Appearing for the petitioners, advocate Umapathi S argued that assigning election duties to Anganwadi workers could affect the delivery of Integrated Child Development Services and other essential services provided through Anganwadi centres.
The petitioners contended that Anganwadi workers already shoulder several responsibilities relating to women and children and that their deployment as BLOs would add substantially to their workload.
They also argued that the nature of BLO duties has changed considerably. Apart from routine administrative work, BLOs are required to undertake house-to-house visits, verify voter details and carry out field-level enumeration.
According to the petitioners, diverting Anganwadi workers from their core responsibilities could have an impact on early childhood care, nutrition-related services and other welfare activities.
The High Court has sought the ECI’s response to the challenge. The matter assumes importance as Karnataka continues with the extensive verification and mapping of electoral records under the SIR exercise.
With millions of voter records undergoing scrutiny, election authorities are now attempting to strike a balance between ensuring accuracy in electoral rolls and preventing genuine voters from being subjected to unnecessary notices and hearings.
