Pre-SIR mapping reaches 72% in Bengaluru; house-to-house voter verification to start on June 30

Bengaluru: With Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls set to begin in Karnataka from June 20, Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) chief commissioner Maheshwar Rao, who is also district election officer, said progress of pre-SIR mapping exercise stood at 72% in the city.

As part of preparatory activities for SIR, the process of mapping 2025 electoral rolls with that of 2002 is under way. “Booth-level officers (BLOs) will be deployed in each of the 8,023 booths in Bengaluru, along with around 1,600 BLO supervisors,” Rao said, adding that most of the BLOs will be govt school teachers.

The BLOs will begin house-to-house verification from June 30. The exercise will continue till July 27, after which the draft electoral roll will be published on Aug 5. Voters can file claims and objections till Sept 4 and the final electoral roll will be published on Oct 7.

As part of the revision process, BLOs will distribute enumeration forms that voters must fill and submit to ensure their names are retained in the upcoming draft electoral roll. If a resident is unavailable during a visit, the BLO can leave the form at the doorstep and make at least three attempts to collect the completed form. The forms will carry the name and contact details of the BLO to facilitate coordination with voters.

Parties rap GBA over incomplete mapping

A meeting was held with representatives of political parties about the SIR process, during which several functionaries raised concerns about incomplete mapping in the city. “Karnataka’s rural districts have achieved over 95% mapping, while it’s 70% in GBA limits. Without prior mapping, voters may have to produce documents during house-to-house visits. The process could have been simpler had officials mapped all voters in advance,” Arun Prasad A, state general secretary of Bahujan Samaj Party.

Prabhu Bosco, general secretary of National People’s Party, suggested that corporations set up help desks to assist people with SIR process. “Helpline numbers may not be effective as they will be flooded with queries. We need help desks in corporation offices or BangaloreOne centres where people can submit relevant documents or check their SIR status,” he said.