BENGALURU: As the deadline for hearings and the claims and objections period under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise approaches, citizens’ fear and concern are rising over the lack of acknowledgement at the end of the hearing process.
"I had carried my notice document with me for the hearing. The Booth Level Officer (BLO) and the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) kept the notice document with them. They did not return it. Also, they did not give me any acknowledgement showing that the hearing exercise had been completed and that I was no longer listed in the anomalies category," said Pushpa, who had visited the Hegganahalli ward office for the hearing.
A similar case was reported by Deepa, who had appeared for a hearing in Yeshwanthpur. She said, "I was told that my signing their register book was sufficient. I was also told to take a photograph of the notice document. They insisted on not returning the notice or giving an acknowledgement, as it was not prescribed by the election officials to them."
In many cases, EROs and BLOs have sent electors back to obtain state government-endorsed documents for verification under the no-mapping and anomalies categories. "I had carried the last SIR voting details of 2003 with me, along with a copy of my bank passbook, for the no-mapping verification.
But the ERO rejected them and asked me to submit state government documents like a senior citizens card and even a state government-issued senior citizen bus pass for verification instead. I was also made to get them photocopied as I was not carrying them," said 78-year-old Narayan. He said the BLO and ERO also refused to come to his home for the hearing, despite directions issued by the Election Commission.
Sudha M, a homemaker and senior citizen from Peenya, was asked to return the next day for a hearing with state government documents such as a ration card, pension card or even a house tax receipt for documentation. She said the ERO insisted on state government documents and did not accept any others.
Reacting to this, Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka, V Anbukkumar said he would look into the issues and discuss them with the District Election Officer as well. He said it was advised to use any of the listed 12 documents for verification.
The second phase of the SIR exercise, covering the period of issuing notices, conducting hearings and filing claims and objections, which commenced on August 24, will end on September 23, 2026. The process of disposing of claims and objections started on August 24 and will end on October 22. The final electoral roll will be published on October 27, 2026.
Over 17 lakh hearings of electors completed, 17.3 lakh pending
Data from the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka, on Friday showed that as of September 18, 2026, Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) had completed hearings for 17,63,187 (50.43%) electors, while 17,33,362 cases were pending.
A total of 43,81,945 electors were listed under the logical discrepancy/anomaly and no-mapping categories for hearing, of which 34,96,549 notices were generated and handed over to electors. Data showed that 8,85,396 notices were yet to be delivered to electors.
The last hearing will be conducted on October 22, while the last date for disposal of claims and objections is October 22, 2026. T ease the enrolment process and help electors submit Form-6 for inclusion in the electoral rolls, Form-7 for deletion and Form-8 for corrections, a special campaign will be held across the state at all polling stations on September 19 and 20, 2026. CEO, Karnataka, V Anbukkumar said a meeting was conducted on September 18 with all the District Election Officers, Additional District Election Officers, Chief Executive Officers of Zilla Panchayats and EROs to review the progress of various activities related to the disposal of claims and objections and hearings of notices. Necessary directions were also issued.
