Civil society organisations and social activists in Telangana have urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to make the notice and hearing process under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls more transparent, saying voters in Hyderabad are not being told the precise discrepancies identified in their electoral records.
In a representation sent on Sunday to Chief Election Commissioner Gynesh Kumar and Telangana Chief Electoral Officer Sudershan Reddy, the groups said electors currently have no mechanism to track the status of their cases, the documents submitted or the decisions taken after hearings.
The representation was sent by activist SQ Masood and signed by representatives of several organisations. The groups said every notice issued to a voter should clearly explain the reason for the summons, including the alleged mismatch, the corresponding entry in the 2002 SIR record, the voter’s details in the current electoral roll and the discrepancy identified by election officials.
They also sought an online mechanism through which electors could view documents submitted by them and those uploaded by booth-level officers (BLOs). The proposed system should also show hearing details, BLO remarks, recommendations or decisions of the electoral registration officer (ERO) and district election officer (DEO), as well as the current status of each case, according to the representation.
The groups said voters should be informed in writing if any document or explanation is considered insufficient. They also sought an opportunity for electors to submit additional documents or clarifications before an adverse decision is taken ahead of the final publication of the electoral rolls.
The representation further asked EROs to verify physical records before issuing notices. It said spelling variations, differences arising from transliteration and clerical errors in the 2002 records should be treated as rectifiable discrepancies wherever applicable.
The activists also urged the Telangana Chief Electoral Officer to publish a daily, constituency-wise bulletin covering notices issued, voters who attended hearings, claims approved, cases rejected or not approved and other disposal statistics. The representation did not indicate whether the ECI or Telangana election authorities had responded to the demands.
