Millions of Hyderabad voters could receive notices due to SIR errors.

Hyderabad: Lakhs of voters in Hyderabad could receive notices during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls as officials expect a large number of anomalies to be found in urban areas.

A report published in The Hindu quoted Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) C Sudharshan Reddy saying that Telangana has already identified nearly 88 lakh anomalies during the pre-SIR mapping exercise. The number is expected to cross one crore after the completion of the enumeration process.

Why Hyderabad may see high number of notices over SIR anomalies
As the CEO said that most of these discrepancies are in urban pockets, Hyderabad is expected to see a high number of anomalies.

Some of the anomalies that are being checked are:

Name mismatch
Age gap with parents of less than 15 years or more than 50 years
Age gap with maternal/paternal grandparents of less than 40 years
More than six voters mapped with a single voter in the 2002 SIR list
Age gap between siblings mapped with a voter in the 2002 SIR list of less than nine months
Documents needed in case of anomalies
Odisha, where SIR is going on, adopted the “panchnama” route to resolve anomalies. In the process, signatures of residents in the locality are used to validate disputed entries.

Uttar Pradesh and other states, during their Phase 2 SIR, took a documentation route instead. Voters there were asked to establish their relationship with the elector listed in the 2002 SIR records through any documents, not necessarily those prescribed by the Election Commission of India.

Under the documentation approach, voters mapped with parents were required to submit any document carrying both their name and their father’s or mother’s name. Those mapped with maternal grandparents had to produce a document showing their own name alongside their mother’s, as well as their mother’s document establishing her link to her parents.

Similarly, electors mapped with paternal grandparents were asked to provide a document linking them to their father, along with the father’s document establishing his own parental linkage.

In the case of Telangana, the exact process that will be adopted for resolving SIR anomalies has not yet been formally announced.

No mapping notice
The report also quoted the CEO explaining that every voter has been given a personalised enumeration form containing pre-filled details such as name, address, photograph, and the contact details of the Booth Level Officer (BLO).

Voters who were enrolled in the 2002 electoral roll have to provide their 2002 voter details. Those who were not voters in 2002 need to provide the details of their parents who were enrolled at that time.

If a voter does not know the 2002 details, they can leave those sections blank, fill in the current information, sign the form, and submit it. Their name will still appear in the draft electoral roll, but they may receive a notice asking them to submit supporting identity documents.

ERO must issue notice before taking action
Addressing concerns over the SIR process, the CEO clarified that an ERO cannot remove a voter’s name without issuing a notice.

Responding to questions on the documents, the CEO said that voters who do not possess any of the prescribed documents under the SIR process may still be able to establish their eligibility during the notice stage. He said people, including elderly citizens who do not have birth certificates or school records, should produce any other identity document available with them, apart from Aadhaar.

On questions about whether ration cards, driving licences, and permanent residence certificates could be accepted as valid documents, the CEO said the decision would be taken by the concerned Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) during the notice period. He added that, in exceptional cases, the quasi-judicial authority may also examine the documents submitted before arriving at a decision.

He said that every ERO functions as a quasi-judicial authority and will examine each case carefully. The effort will be to retain eligible voters in the electoral roll unless there is a serious discrepancy that cannot be resolved.