MANGALURU: The Dakshina Kannada district administration has clarified that a Booth Level Officer’s (BLO) error during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) 2026 of electoral rolls led to Mangaluru resident Donald Joseph Rego being wrongly recorded as deceased and omitted from the draft voters’ list.
In a press statement issued on Tuesday, the administration said an inquiry found that Rego, a voter from Part No. 24 of the Mangaluru City South Assembly constituency, had submitted his Enumeration Form to the BLO along with his late father’s death certificate. While digitising the form, the BLO mistakenly interpreted the attached document as about the voter himself and marked him as “dead”, resulting in the deletion of his name from the draft electoral roll.
The inquiry also found that Rego had not filled in the mapping and progeny details in the Enumeration Form, and the application had been treated as a “No Mapping Case” by the BLO. The Electoral Registration Officer has already sought an explanation from the concerned BLO, while the Deputy Commissioner’s office has also directed the official to submit a clarification.
The district administration said necessary action is underway to include Donald Joseph Rego’s name in the final electoral roll for Part No. 24 of the Mangaluru City South Assembly constituency in accordance with election rules.
ERO, BLO did not contact me: Rego
The release also said once the error came to the BLO’s notice, the Electoral Registration Officer and the BLO personally contacted Rego on August 29 and collected the required documents through the BLO App to facilitate the restoration of his name. However, Rego said neither the ERO nor the BLO contacted him and that it was he who approached them on August 28.
