With the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) under way, residents of several apartment complexes across the city have reported that the purple stickers, which Booth Level Officers (BLOs) are required to paste outside a residence only after ‘successfully distributing’ enumeration forms to voters, are being pasted without forms being distributed or BLOs even meeting the residents.

On the other hand, at several other places, forms have been distributed but no stickers have been pasted.

Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) V. Anbu Kumar had clarified that two stickers would be used — square-shaped purple stickers to indicate that forms have been successfully distributed, and circular red stickers when a house is found locked or closed, or when a follow-up visit is required.

The residents of an apartment complex in Bellandur told The Hindu that a BLO pasted purple stickers outside some flats without any forms being distributed, even though residents were at home, while at other flats, he distributed forms but did not paste any sticker.

Similar concerns were reported from Banaswadi, Benson Town, and in apartment complexes in Bellandur and Varthur, where residents said there appeared to be no uniform procedure being followed.

Signed but not verified

Some voters also complained that BLOs are signing the declaration without addressing even basic queries, saying they themselves did not know the answers and that their only task was to distribute the forms. The enumeration form contains a declaration to be signed by the BLO stating they have verified details.

Under pressure

When contacted, several BLOs admitted that they themselves were clueless and under immense pressure to complete form distribution, as Bengaluru Urban continues to lag behind every other district in the State. They said pressure was coming from both election officials and booth-level agents of political parties to push up the distribution percentage.

One BLO whom The Hindu spoke to admitted, “We have not been trained. We don’t know what to tell voters when they ask questions.” Even Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs) do not answer queries or give different instructions and simply instruct them to distribute forms so that the percentage goes up,” he added.

As of Friday, Bengaluru Urban had distributed enumeration forms to around 55% of electors, a sharp jump from about 33% recorded on July 6.

The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is not aimed at deletions, said Karnataka’s Chief Electoral Officer V. Anbu Kumar, adding, “SIR is aimed at inclusion. It is aimed at purifying rolls, to get clear, pure electoral data.”

The CEO hosted a media workshop ahead of the SIR rollout in the State on Wednesday, where he highlighted how activities would be carried out and explained the schedule.

He said the State was on top in mapping nationwide, and assured that it would do well in the areas currently lagging in voter mapping exercise as days remain before SIR is rolled out.

As of Wednesday, the State has crossed 88% in electoral, including progeny mapping, he said.

Recently, the Congress government had raised concerns over possible deletions in districts with high migration and allegations were made by civil society groups that the SIR exercise is aimed at arbitrary, mass deletions. The CEO, however, said one should refer to Election Commission of India (ECI) guidelines and added that he “doesn’t know and could not comment on the future of the electoral rolls”. 

However, he did not clarify media doubts regarding the purpose of the exercise, the issues that may arise if booth-level agents (BLAs) assigned by political parties misuse enumeration forms, if Booth Level Officers (BLOs) fail to map voters, or on the concerns consistently raised by BLOs themselves. The official maintained that the process is going as per the ECI guidelines. 

Addressing concerns regarding notices, the CEO said it will be served only in cases involving some “logical discrepancies”. However, he again did not clarify whether voters in the State should be prepared for an additional category of “logical discrepancy” to emerge as part of the exercise. 

On BLAs misusing details from the enumeration form, Mr. Kumar said BLAs are trusted individuals chosen by political parties and that they would be entrusted with collecting enumeration forms from electors.

However, when the media questioned whether this could go wrong or whether any changes had been made to ensure only BLOs collect forms and not BLAs, especially after the West Bengal SIR exercise allegedly led to mass disenfranchisement, the CEO dismissed the concerns. “Voters know everything. You may dismiss their knowledge and think they are not aware. They are well informed. Even in rural districts, villagers function like families; they know everything,” he said. 

As of Wednesday, the CEO said a total of 69,944 BLAs had been appointed. These include 36,213 by the Congress, 31,115 by the BJP and 2,616 by the JD(S).

On the notices being served, he said, “The notices, if sent, are only to clear some communication gaps. If enumeration forms are submitted, then names will appear in the draft electoral roll.”

He added that there would be two forms — one for the voter to retain and the other to be submitted back to the BLO or even BLA. Each form would also carry a QR code to directly help BLOs identify voters. “That’s the beauty of this form,” he said. 

He also clarified that in cases involving objections and claims, Deputy Commissioners and CEO would act as both the appellate authority as well as competent authority.