Electoral Roll Revision Hearings in Bengaluru Delayed as Over 24 Lakh Notices Loom

Electoral Registration Officers in Bengaluru generated voter notices under the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls on August 28, four days behind the Election Commission of India's August 24 schedule. With rules requiring a seven-day gap between notice generation and the first hearing, proceedings in the city and localities such as C.V. Raman Nagar can only commence on September 5, resulting in the loss of 10 days against a tight deadline.

The delay leaves registration officers with less than 60 days to conclude proceedings before the October 22 deadline. Across Karnataka, the revision involves 43.81 lakh voters, with more than 24 lakh of those cases concentrated in Bengaluru alone. The compressed timeline is creating logistical hurdles for both election staff and residents preparing for hearings.

Booth Level Officers reported receiving physical notices on September 1, with distribution commencing on Wednesday. Given the volume of notices, officers noted that distribution could continue through September 4, leaving some electors with barely a single day's notice before hearings start. One booth officer noted that while September 5 was scheduled on a Saturday to reduce public inconvenience, such compressed turnarounds cannot be sustained consistently.

Questions have also emerged regarding the grounds cited in several notices. Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer V. Anbu Kumar previously stated that notices would target voters with logical discrepancies or those whose family details could not be mapped to the 2002 rolls. However, multiple electors who supplied complete enumeration forms have received notices containing reasons that contradict their submissions.

In C.V. Raman Nagar, a voter and her mother were informed by telephone that their notices were issued because mapping details were missing, despite both of their submitted forms containing the required data. In that instance, the notice had not yet been delivered and the electors remained unaware of their hearing date. Similar errors were documented elsewhere in the state, including a 71-year-old voter in Raichur flagged for generational age gaps that did not match his family records.

Confusion from the earlier enumeration phase has continued, with multiple citizens reporting that booth officers collected personal records, including Aadhaar cards, caste certificates, Class 10 certificates, and transfer certificates. Some voters were told this would hasten the process, while others were instructed to collect notices directly from polling stations. Under official guidelines, booth officers are barred from collecting documents, which may only be sought by authorities during formal hearings.