How BLOs’ mistakes can put your voting rights at risk

Hyderabad: Hyderabad, along with other districts of Telangana, is going to see Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in April.

As the exercise is going to begin next month, some lessons need to be learned from Phase II of the SIR which was conducted in 12 states and Union Territories.

BLOs’ mistakes

As the Election Commission of India (ECI) is using AI-based software and has made SIR a purely online process, most BLOs who are non-tech savvy faced difficulties.

Apart from it, some BLOs who were not clear about the rules made mistakes which resulted in unnecessary notices in the later stages.

During SIR, the BLOs need to map voters with the previous SIR. If a voter’s name appears in the 2002 list, the linking is straightforward. Those whose names do not feature are asked to connect themselves through relatives whose entries exist in the older roll.

Some of the mistakes done by BLOs during Phase II of SIR which can be avoided during the exercise in Hyderabad and other districts of Telangana are

1. All children mapped with father
2. Denied mapping with maternal grandparents

During SIR Phase II, in most cases, despite both father and mother being on the list, all children were mapped with the father. However, in cases where more than six voters were mapped to a single person, the system generated notices.

It could be easily avoided by dividing children mapping between the parents, if possible, to avoid unnecessary notices.

Maternal grandparents

Despite clear instructions from the ECI, some BLOs during Phase II of SIR were reluctant to map voters with maternal grandmother and maternal grandfather.

Training material prepared for SIR in West Bengal states that if an elector’s name does not appear in the last revision, details of the father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, or other relatives can be entered.

Similarly, the online standard operating procedure (SOP) for filling SIR enumeration forms gives three options to voters:

1. That their own name exists in the last SIR roll
2. That their parents’ or grandparents’ names exist
3. That neither does

As nothing like paternal or maternal grandfathers and grandmothers is mentioned, it includes both sides.

This interpretation has also been reiterated by election officials in other states, including Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, where authorities clarified that grandparents on both the maternal and paternal sides are valid for linking.

Recently, speaking with Siasat.com, a BLO supervisor, Muneer, from the Bahadurpura Assembly constituency also confirmed that both maternal and paternal grandparents are considered relatives for the purpose of SIR.

As per the ECI, the following relatives can be considered during SIR

1. Father
2. Mother
3. Maternal grandfather
4. Maternal grandmother
5. Paternal grandfather
6. Paternal grandmother

Although most BLOs were clear about this rule, some who were confused about it were denying voters from linking to maternal grandparents which resulted in unnecessary notices.

Lessons for voters during SIR in Hyderabad

As Hyderabad and other districts of Telangana are going to see SIR next month, clarity among BLOs on the rules is crucial, since proper mapping can reduce the workload of electoral registration officers and avoid unnecessary notices being issued to voters later.

Apart from it, voters need to report to higher authorities in case BLOs are not adhering to ECI rules.

Moreover, they can consider filling the enumeration form online.