Bengaluru, 29 July 

The Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) submitted a representation to the Election Commission of India on Wednesday seeking “immediate scrutiny” as 80 lakh electors have been proposed for exclusion in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR)of voter rolls in the State. 

The letter noted that 80 lakh voters make up 15 per cent. However, they have been have been categorised under as Absent, Shifted, Refused to Sign, Duplicate or Others (ASDDO).

“If these figures are acted upon without thorough verification, there is a grave possibility that a large number of genuine and eligible electors may be wrongfully omitted from the electoral rolls, thereby adversely affecting their constitutional right to vote,” the release stated. 

The Congress noted that removing ineligible or duplicate entries was important, but stressed that no genuine citizen should be removed. 

Among other demands, the Congress urged the ECI to conduct a second-level physical verification and ensure that no elector is deleted on the basis of a single house visit. The Congress sought Facilitation Centres at village, ward and polling station levels to help voters submit their documents, and urged the ECI to publish category-wise and constituency-wise statistics of proposed deletions.