Hyderabad Voters Warned: Failure to Return Enumeration Forms May Lead to Removal from Electoral Rolls

The Hyderabad district election officer, R.V. Karnan, has announced that voters who do not return filled enumeration forms during the ongoing house-to-house visits by Booth Level Officers (BLOs) may be removed from the electoral roll. This warning comes as part of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the district.

Addressing a media conference on Monday, Mr. Karnan, who also serves as the GHMC Commissioner, clarified that even if the form is not completed in all respects, voters can simply sign and attach a recent photograph when returning it. However, returning the form is mandatory, he emphasised.

The names of those who fail to return the forms will be displayed prominently at the Electoral Registration Officer's (ERO) office and on the Telangana Chief Electoral Officer's website.

Mr. Karnan provided statistics from the pre-SIR mapping, stating that out of the 47,36,669 voters in the district, 22,09,647 (46.65%) have been successfully mapped to the SIR-2002 list. The remaining 25,27,022 voters remain unmapped.

The house-to-house visits by BLOs are scheduled from June 25 to July 24. During this period, each BLO must visit every house at least three times. They will distribute enumeration forms to existing voters, assist in filling them out, and collect the completed forms. Forms are provided in duplicate, with one copy left with the voter as an acknowledgement. If a voter is absent, a family member may sign on their behalf. No supporting documents are required to be submitted with the form.

In addition to enumeration, the process includes rationalisation of polling stations. Draft electoral rolls are expected to be published on July 31. Claims and objections can be filed up to August 30, with decisions made by September 28. The final electoral rolls will be published on October 1.

Mr. Karnan also announced that Booth Level Agents (BLAs) from recognised political parties will be trained and provided identity cards to accompany BLOs during visits. BLAs are permitted to submit up to 50 forms per day before the draft publication and 10 forms per day thereafter.

Help desks have been established at Electoral Registration Offices and the office of the District Election Officer. Mapped and unmapped voter data has been shared with all recognised political parties. Support for BLOs will come from NSS volunteers, NCC cadets, retired employees, NGOs, and others. A sticker will be affixed to each household after enumeration is completed.

Following the draft publication of electoral rolls, voters who could not be linked to the 2002 rolls or whose details have discrepancies will receive notices from the ERO. They must respond by producing any of the 12 listed documents.