SIR: Notices cite errors despite correct details in forms; hearing to begin from Sept. 5 in Bengaluru

Once the process of generating a notice is initiated, it takes a week before a hearing can be held, with the first hearing possible only on the seventh day

Updated - September 02, 2026 09:07 pm IST - Bengaluru

The confusion seen during the enumeration phase, when several voters received calls asking them to collect enumeration forms and were unsure whether documents had to be submitted, appears to have persisted into the notice process. | Photo Credit: File photo

While the disposal of notices in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls was supposed to begin on August 24 across Karnataka as per the ECI’s guidelines, Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) in Bengaluru said they generated the notices only on August 28.

Once the process of generating a notice is initiated, it takes a week before a hearing can be held, with the first hearing possible only on the seventh day. In Bengaluru, therefore, hearings can begin only on September 5 — meaning 10 days have already been lost in a process that is already working against a tight deadline.

The hearings will continue until October 22, leaving EROs less than 60 days to conclude cases involving 43.81 lakh voters across Karnataka. Over 24 lakh of these cases are concentrated in Bengaluru alone.

The tight timeline is also expected to create difficulties for voters in receiving the notices and preparing documents for the hearings. Booth Level Officers (BLOs) said they received the notices only on September 1, while distribution began on Wednesday. Given the volume of notices, they said distribution, in many cases, could continue until September 4 — just a day before the hearings begin. “Some people may get enough time, like at least two days, but some may not even get a day. While September 5 was decided as it is a Saturday to cause less inconvenience to the public, this cannot be done each time,” a BLO said.

There are also questions over the reasons cited in some of the notices. Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer V. Anbu Kumar, referring to the total number of notices, had said they would be served to voters with logical discrepancies or those whose details, or those of their family members, could not be mapped to the 2002 rolls. However, in several cases, voters who said they had provided the required details in their enumeration forms have also received notices, with the reasons cited not matching the details they had submitted.

For instance, in a notice accessed by The Hindu, a 71-year-old man from the Raichur constituency was issued a notice citing two reasons — that “the age gap between you and another progeny linked with the same parent is less than nine months” and that “the age difference between you and your parent, whose details are used to link you with the rolls prepared during the last SIR, is less than 15 years, that seems to be due to incorrect matching”.

However, the elector’s first son is 40 years old — born on June 1, 1984, while another son was born on August 26, 1985 — a gap of more than 13 months. Moreover, if the elector’s son is the person whose age creates that discrepancy, then the son should logically be the elector flagged for that particular discrepancy, not the father.

In another case in C.V. Raman Nagar, a voter and her mother were informed about the notices over the call, stating that they had not provided details for mapping. However, when checked, both their enumeration forms contained mapping details. In this case, voters were told that notice will be served, but it was yet not delivered, with electors not even knowing the hearing date.

The confusion seen during the enumeration phase, when several voters received calls asking them to collect enumeration forms and were unsure whether documents had to be submitted, also appears to have persisted into the notice process. Several voters said that BLOs had collected documents from them, saying this would “fasten the process” or “reduce discrepancies”. Some said they had received calls on Wednesday asking them to come to the polling station to collect their notices if they wanted them “on time”.

In many other cases, voters said BLOs had already collected documents, including caste certificates, Aadhaar cards, Class 10 certificates and transfer certificates. The voters, however, said they were unclear about why the documents were being collected or whether they were even required to submit them at this stage.

As per the guidelines, BLOs cannot collect any documents. Documents can be sought during the hearing process.