SIR: Voters above 85 years face double checks, say BLOs

With the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) under way in Karnataka, Booth Level Officers (BLOs) say they have been instructed to “double verify” voters aged ‘85 years and above’ and place them under the “probable absent, shifted, dead/deleted or duplicate (ASDD)” category.

While Chief Electoral Officer V. Anbu Kumar denied that any such instructions had been issued, multiple BLOs told The Hindu that they had been directed to flag voters above 85 for ASDD verification ‘even before any discrepancy has been established’. 

“Nobody whose enumeration form has been submitted should be placed under the ASDD category. But within the BLO app, there is a category called ‘Probable ASD’ where all voters above 85 are directly linked. We have been told to mark voters above 85 as ASDD because they are presumed unlikely to be voting,” a BLO said.

‘Keep documents ready’

Families who informed The Hindu of the practice said BLOs had asked them to “keep the documents ready”, indicating that notices could be issued after the publication of the draft electoral roll.

“We were told to keep all the documents ready because notices would be served. When we asked why, despite having already submitted the enumeration form, the BLO said this is how the exercise has been designed for people above 85 years,” a resident said. 

Even civil society groups had earlier expressed concern that senior citizens would be particularly vulnerable to deletions during the revision exercise. 

What it means

Being flagged under the ASDD category means the voter’s entry is subjected to additional scrutiny during the revision process. If the entry is proposed for deletion or exclusion in the draft electoral roll, the elector will be required to respond to a notice and establish their eligibility before the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO).  Under the ECI’s stated procedure, this is generally meant for voters who could not be contacted after repeated visits or where there is evidence of death, shifting or duplication. 

As per the ECI, once an enumeration form has been collected and submitted, there is, prima facie, no basis to classify a voter as absent, shifted, dead or a duplicate unless a specific discrepancy emerges during verification. Even when a discrepancy crops up, it has to be treated separately.  

In cases where a voter has shifted residence or is temporarily unavailable, such discrepancies are verified before any categorisation is done. Voters who are alive, available at their residence and have submitted their enumeration forms cannot be placed under any of the ASDD categories, as per ECI rules.  

This ASDD categorisation in the BLO application has not been reported so far in other States where the SIR has been conducted, including West Bengal, where the exercise became the most controversial.

Voters also questioned why elderly citizens should be required to establish their eligibility like this even after submitting their enumeration forms as the verification process is already difficult because of the requirement to link records with the 2002 electoral roll. 

CEO denies

The CEO, denying the development, said, “There are no such instructions. In fact, we are going house to house to distribute enumeration forms to such voters. There will be no discrimination on any basis,” Mr. Kumar said, adding that if enumeration forms are submitted, the details will be verified and the names included in the draft electoral roll. 

However, there remains no clarity on why such an option exists, as flagging a voter without a valid, recorded reason directly violates Representation of the People Act, 1950.

As on July 20, Karnataka marked 4,53,158 voters as absent or untraceable, 20,48,942 as permanently shifted, and 8,14,206 as deceased electors.

Voters, however, questioned how such figures could be independently assessed if, as said by BLOs, even voters who are alive, have not shifted, are not duplicates and have submitted their enumeration forms are first being placed in the ASDD category solely because they are above 85 years of age.