Mandatory presence, no receipt: SIR notices leave Karnataka voters anxious

On the morning of September 9, a man visited the Booth Level Officer (BLO) at Ujire Gram Panchayat in Karnataka’s Dakshina Kannada district with a set of documents. He was among the 1,000-odd voters in the panchayat’s draft electoral roll who were served notices for identity verification during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the state.

“The notice was issued due to the difference in my name from that in the 2002 electoral roll. Since I worked abroad, I had to add parts to my name. That is why I was served the notice,” he explained. Like elsewhere in the state, around 10 per cent of voters in the village have received similar notices.

Like his father-in-law, whose initials were expanded while applying for a passport. He too visited the gram panchayat and submitted the relevant documents. “I submitted the documents. However, there was no acknowledgement confirming that they had been accepted and that I would remain on the final electoral roll,” the man told The Indian Express.

Both men returned after being told that their documents had been uploaded and they would know their status when the final rolls are published on October 27. The SIR of electoral rolls has left thousands of voters in Karnataka grappling with uncertainty over their electoral status, amid complaints of a lack of acknowledgement for submitted documents and mandatory in-person hearings for those served notices.

Puttappa, a resident of the neighbouring Laila Grama Panchayat, said that his son, Suresh P, has received a notice. “He has been working abroad for the past 10 years. Now, a notice was issued regarding ‘name mismatch’. When I enquired with the BLO, she informed me that he has to be present on the date of hearing, failing which his name would be struck off the rolls,” he said.

Puttappa asked how authorities could demand the physical presence of voters at short notice. “Many, including my son, work in small companies and do not get leaves at will. How can he attend the hearing within days of the notice being served?” he asked.

A similar case was reported in BTM Layout constituency in Bengaluru. Madan Subramanium met his BLO to submit documents related to his son and daughter-in-law. “Due to the current US policies about immigrants, they are not able to return to India for a while.

Despite informing the assistant electoral roll officer about the constraints, the official maintained that those who were served notices should be physically present or face deletion from the electoral roll,” he said. While such cases reflect concerns among voters who have submitted one of the 11 documents listed by the Election Commission of India (ECI), others such as Zakariya remain puzzled about why they received notices in the first place.

“According to officials, the notice was issued due to an anomaly which claims that the age difference between me and my grandparents was less than 40 years. However, none of my four elder brothers received a notice citing this anomaly,” he said.

Zakariya submitted his documents at Ujire Grama Panchayat earlier this week. “If the ECI can alert us about the notice using our phone numbers, why can’t it provide an acknowledgement about whether our documents have been accepted?” he asked.

Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer V Anbukumar said there was no mechanism to inform voters submitting documents in the notice phase that their documents have been accepted. “If it is accepted, they will know it on the spot,” he said.

On authorities insisting that those issued notices be physically present, sources said that this was being done as per ECI directions. “Physical presence is mandatory. While their relatives can submit enumeration forms on behalf of the voter during the earlier phase of SIR, voter presence is mandatory during the notice and verification phase,” an official said.

On notices on age difference being served to only a few siblings in the family, the official suspected that it could be an error caused when notices were generated centrally. “We are looking into these complaints,” the official added.

Meanwhile, Bengaluru-based firm MAC Insights analysed the 43.81 lakh notices generated in Karnataka. The analysis showed that a little over half the notices (23.28 lakh) were for voters who were unmapped during the last SIR.

For instance, the entire family of entrepreneur Nandan Nilekani was issued notices citing this reason. ‘Self name mismatch’ is the second most common reason, with around 5.2 lakh voters getting notices due to this reason.

While a notice was generated for Bharat Ratna winner and eminent scientist CNR Rao, Padma Shri winner Harekala Hajabba received one due to this reason. Other reasons included: parent age difference of less than 15 years (4.59 lakh), parent name mismatch (4.52 lakh), grandparent age difference of less than 40 years (2.63 lakh), progeny age gap of less than nine months (2.17 lakh), progeny count greater than six (1.22 lakh), parent age difference greater than 50 years (1.16 lakh), parent marked ineligible in the last SIR (34), and others (2).