Preliminary report on SIR discrepancies with ‘genuine data’ to be submitted on September 30

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Activist and Eddelu Karnataka functionary Noor Sridhar and others addressing presspersons in Hubballi on Tuesday. | Photo Credit: KIRAN BAKALE

Eddelu Karnataka and other civil society organisations who have taken exception to serious discrepancies in the ongoing SIR (Special Intensive Revision) of electoral rolls, will be submitting a preliminary report on their findings in 100 selected polling stations in 25 districts of the state to the state government and the Election Commission on September 30.

Addressing presspersons in Hubballi on Tuesday, activist and Eddelu Karnataka functionary Noor Sridhar said that the organisations, under the third round of ‘Pratirodha Pravaasa’, were contacting SIR-affected people across 100 polling stations in 25 districts, and were documenting cases relating to voters being classified as absent, shifted or otherwise flagged during the revision.

He questioned the requirement for citizens to produce documents, particularly in cases involving people from economically weaker and socially vulnerable sections.

Mr. Sridhar, referring to the classification of 1.08 crore voters in Karnataka under the ASDDO (Absent, Shifted, Dead, Duplicate and Others) category, alleged that a significant number of voters had been incorrectly categorised as having permanently shifted from their registered addresses. He said the problem was particularly serious in Bengaluru, adding that lakhs of voters were being asked to register afresh as voters when many of them had no knowledge of their names being deleted.

He said the objective of correcting electoral rolls should not result in eligible voters being excluded because they were unable to produce documents within a short period. Mr. Sridhar alleged that the present system placed a disproportionate burden on people who had fewer documentary records. He said the organisations would document cases involving poor people, Dalits, Adivasis, migrant workers, and other vulnerable sections and would submit their preliminary report with genuine data.

Referring to actor Prakash Raj’s case, he said the actor’s name had been mentioned as deleted from the electoral roll for shifting residence. He added that the actor had refused to register as a fresh voter by submitting Form 6, as by doing so he would have to declare that he was a first-time voter, which would be false.

“Ideally, the ECI should have provided Form 8 for registering a change of residence. Voters were not properly informed about the freezing of the electoral rolls, and they were not given an opportunity to apply through Form 8 before the SIR process began,” he said.

Taking exception to the short duration given to the public to respond to the notices by the ECI, he sought more time for the public to respond.

Mr. Sridhar said that the Karnataka campaign would culminate with the release of a preliminary report on September 30. An après-conference would be held in Delhi on October 1 regarding organising a wider national-level campaign involving organisations from States where the SIR exercise was being conducted.

Replying to a query, he said that the SIR process was flawed and described it as a “conspiracy” to snatch away the voting rights of the underprivileged.

Another functionary, K.L. Ashok, said that the campaign had begun at Mundgod on Tuesday and was scheduled to conclude in Mandya on September 29. Actor Prakash Raj, who has been critical of the SIR exercise, was expected to join the campaign at Kalaburagi, he said.

Activist Tahir Hussain said that the ‘Pratirodha Pravaasa’ was intended to collect the genuine data of the SIR-affected people, and the same would be presented to the government and Election Commission.

Actor Prakash Raj, who was supposed to attend the press conference, spoke over the phone and said that the SIR process seemed more focused on exclusion rather than inclusion. “Why should a citizen have to stand before an office to establish his or her right to vote? Why should tribal people or poor citizens have to go through this process?” he asked.

Referring to what he termed as “flawed SIR” in West Bengal, he said that unless people raised their voices, the voting rights of the underprivileged would be snatched away on the pretext of documents.

Activists Isabella Xavier, Gurunath Ullikashi, and Mahesh Pattar highlighted various discrepancies in the ongoing SIR process.

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