Mangaluru
Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer V. Anbukumar has assured eligible voters that they need not worry about losing their voting rights during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, stating that those whose names are omitted from the final list can still apply for inclusion by submitting Form 6.
Speaking at a review meeting on the progress of the SIR process at the Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner’s office on Saturday, Anbukumar said enumeration forms have already been distributed to all eligible voters. He directed officials to expedite the digitisation of completed forms to ensure timely publication of the draft electoral roll.
He clarified that voters unable to submit their enumeration forms within the stipulated period can apply for inclusion after the final electoral roll is published by filing Form 6 along with the required documents and a declaration.
The Chief Electoral Officer also instructed Booth Level Officers (BLOs) to thoroughly verify cases falling under the ASDD category—Absent, Shifted, Dead and Duplicate. He said if voters are unavailable, have relocated, passed away or have duplicate entries, officials must conduct proper verification, prepare a mahazar and share the list with political party agents. Necessary corrections should be made only after verification.
Emphasising the importance of timely digitisation, Anbukumar said faster processing of completed enumeration forms would help authorities prepare the draft electoral roll without delay.
Deputy Commissioner Darshan H.V. informed the meeting that Dakshina Kannada has 18,03,766 registered voters, and enumeration forms have been distributed to all. He said 65,588 voters have been identified under the ASDD category, while 14,97,139 forms have already been digitised, achieving 83 per cent progress. A dedicated 1950 helpline has also been established to address public queries regarding the SIR process.
Additional Deputy Commissioner K. Raju and other district officials attended the meeting.
Later, Anbukumar visited the polling booth at Capitanio School in Mangaluru South Assembly constituency to inspect the ongoing SIR work. He reviewed the enumeration forms collected by BLOs, offered suggestions for improvement and appreciated the arrangements made for voters at the polling station. Mangaluru Assistant Commissioner Meenakshi Arya and City Corporation Deputy Commissioner Akshatha accompanied him during the inspection.
