Karnataka SIR: As distribution of enumeration forms enters final phase, political parties take on verification of ‘untraceable’ voters

As Karnataka’s distribution of enumeration forms for Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls enters its final phase, the task of verifying voters who could not be accounted for by the Election Commission has largely shifted to recognised political parties, placing their booth-level machinery at the centre of the revision exercise.

As of Monday, of the 94.23% of the State’s 5.54 crore electors, the Election Commission has identified more than 9.37 lakh electors who have been categorised as absent, shifted, dead, duplicate or otherwise untraceable during field verification. The commission has asked political parties to verify the status of such voters before any further action is taken.

List shared with parties

The lists of electors falling under the absentee, shifted, dead, duplicate and others (ASDDO) category are being shared with recognised political parties, including the Congress, BJP and JD(S), on a weekly basis by the Electoral Registration Officers (EROs).

Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) for Karnataka V. Anbu Kumar said parties are authorised to scrutinise the information collected by Booth Level Officers (BLOs) and report any discrepancies or omissions to the Election Commission.

Political parties have, in turn, activated their Booth Level Agents (BLAs), local leaders and grassroots workers to verify the names on the ASDDO lists. They have been asked to visit polling station areas, interact with residents and ascertain whether voters reported as deceased, permanently shifted, absent or untraceable have been correctly classified.

The verification exercise has assumed significance as entries identified under the ASDDO category are maintained separately pending scrutiny. Election officials said the list of such electors would be further verified before any decision is taken on the electoral rolls.

Monitoring by parties

Party functionaries said instructions have been issued to their organisational network across the State to closely monitor the revision process and ensure that eligible voters are not wrongly excluded while inaccurate or duplicate entries are identified. The verification process is also being monitored at the State level, they added.

KPCC spokesperson V.R. Sudarshan said the party has begun mobilising their booth-level network to closely monitor the SIR of electoral rolls. The BLAs have been instructed to remain vigilant during the revision exercise, verify entries at the grassroots and flag any discrepancies to election authorities, he said.

BJP SIR coordinator S. Dattatri said no discrepancies had been identified in the ASDDO list so far.

“Our BLAs have intensified monitoring at the booth level. So far, we have found the ASDDO classification has been done correctly. However, we will have to wait and see after the completion of the exercise,” he said.

The election officials maintained that the SIR exercise is intended to improve the accuracy of electoral rolls by identifying duplicate, deceased, permanently shifted and otherwise ineligible entries while ensuring that all eligible voters remain enrolled. They reiterated that any proposed deletion from the rolls would follow the due process prescribed under election laws, including field verification and an opportunity for affected electors to respond wherever required.