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The Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer has ordered the immediate suspension of physical hearings for voters flagged during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, following directions from the Election Commission of India (ECI).
Under the revised procedure, Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will visit the homes of voters who have received SIR notices over “unmapped” entries or logical discrepancies, collect the required documents, and upload them on the ECINET portal. The documents will then be considered by the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO), who will take a decision on the voter’s case.
District Election Officers (DEOs) have also been directed to set up help desks for flagged voters who need assistance in submitting documents. Physical hearings will be held only in exceptional cases, at the discretion of the ERO, and preferably online. The ECI has been asked to facilitate such online hearings.
If a hearing is required, the voter can authorise an adult member of their family to appear on their behalf, the ECI said.
Of the 43.82 lakh notices issued for SIR hearings in Karnataka, 28.80 lakh hearings had been completed and 12.82 lakh remained pending as of September 26. The last date for the hearings had earlier been fixed for October 12, Deccan Herald reported.
The decision comes amid a controversy over reported differences between Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi over the implementation of the SIR exercise.
On September 26, the full Election Commission met at its headquarters in New Delhi and announced changes to the procedure for voters who had received SIR notices for being “unmapped” or for having logical discrepancies. Such voters would generally not be required to appear before election officials, the ECI said.
Instead, BLOs would visit their homes to collect supporting documents and upload them on the ECINET system. The ERO would then decide the matter based on the documents submitted, the Commission said.