Mapping no protection against SIR scrutiny: EC

Bengaluru: Karnataka chief electoral officer V Anbukumar Friday clarified that voters already included in the 2025 electoral roll will also receive enumeration forms during the Special Intensive Revision even if they are not part of the ongoing voter-mapping exercise.Mapping alone would not protect voters from scrutiny if discrepancies or mismatches were flagged in the system based on previous data.The clarification comes amid concerns over Election Commission's revision drive covering 5.5 crore electors across the state. While the EC has completed 86% mapping of voters so far, Anbukumar said the exercise would not determine eligibility for receiving forms.The door-to-door distribution of enumeration forms will begin on June 30, with booth-level officers visiting every household three times during the month-long exercise. "No document is to be collected from electors during this phase," Anbukumar said.During the visit, BLOs will hand over two forms to each voter. One copy must be filled and returned, while the second will remain with the voter. Any adult member of a family can sign the forms. "Once filled and signed, the name will be part of the draft roll," he added.Election Commission has deployed 59,050 BLOs across Karnataka for the exercise, which is part of a nationwide Special Intensive Revision covering 16 states and three Union Territories. The EC described the revision as a "participative and transparent process" involving voters, political parties and election officials.At present, recognised political parties have appointed 25,284 booth-level agents. EC has urged parties to appoint agents at every station to improve transparency. CM Siddaramaiah said Karnataka would soon begin the process. "We will make the necessary preparations for the exercise," he said.GFXJune 30 to July 29: Enumeration forms distributed and collected; form 6 issued to new voters; no documents collected at this stage; voters must provide links to earlier SIR rolls or relatives in previous rollsAug 5 to Sept 4: Omitted voters can seek inclusion; parties scrutinise rollsSept 5 to Oct 3: Notices issued in disputed cases; quasi judicial scrutiny conductedWho gets notice?• Voters whose previous SIR details are unavailable• Voters whose details do not match EC records