Karnataka Voters Aged 85+ Face Extra Scrutiny During Electoral Roll Revision, BLOs Claim

During the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Karnataka, Booth Level Officers (BLOs) have reported receiving instructions to apply “double verification” for voters aged 85 years and above, and to categorise them under the “probable absent, shifted, dead, deleted or duplicate (ASDD)” category.

Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) V. Anbu Kumar has denied issuing any such instructions. However, multiple BLOs told The Hindu that they were directed to flag voters above 85 for ASDD verification even before any discrepancy was identified.

“Nobody whose enumeration form has been submitted should be placed under the ASDD category. But within the BLO app, there is a category called ‘Probable ASD’ where all voters above 85 are directly linked. We have been told to mark voters above 85 as ASDD because they are presumed unlikely to be voting,” a BLO said.

Families affected by this practice reported that BLOs advised them to “keep the documents ready”, indicating that notices could be issued after the publication of the draft electoral roll. “We were told to keep all the documents ready because notices would be served. When we asked why, despite having already submitted the enumeration form, the BLO said this is how the exercise has been designed for people above 85 years,” a resident said.

Civil society groups had earlier expressed concerns that senior citizens would be particularly vulnerable to deletions during the revision exercise.

Being flagged under the ASDD category means the voter’s entry faces additional scrutiny during the revision process. If the entry is proposed for deletion or exclusion in the draft roll, the elector must respond to a notice and establish eligibility before the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO). According to the Election Commission of India (ECI), this procedure is generally meant for voters who could not be contacted after repeated visits or where there is evidence of death, shifting, or duplication.

As per ECI rules, once an enumeration form has been collected and submitted, there is no basis to classify a voter as absent, shifted, dead, or duplicate unless a specific discrepancy emerges during verification. Even when a discrepancy arises, it must be treated separately. For voters who have shifted or are temporarily unavailable, discrepancies are verified before any categorisation. Voters who are alive, available at their residence, and have submitted their forms cannot be placed under ASDD categories, according to ECI norms.

This ASDD categorisation in the BLO application has not been reported in other states where the SIR has been conducted, including West Bengal, where the exercise became controversial.

Voters questioned why elderly citizens should be required to establish eligibility even after submitting forms, especially since the verification process already requires linking records with the 2002 electoral roll.

CEO Anbu Kumar denied the development, stating, “There are no such instructions. In fact, we are going house to house to distribute enumeration forms to such voters. There will be no discrimination on any basis.” He added that if forms are submitted, details will be verified and names included in the draft roll.

However, there remains no clarity on why the option exists, as flagging a voter without a valid reason directly violates the Representation of the People Act, 1950.

As of July 20, Karnataka had marked 4,53,158 voters as absent or untraceable, 20,48,942 as permanently shifted, and 8,14,206 as deceased electors. Voters questioned how these figures could be independently assessed if, as BLOs claim, even voters who are alive, have not shifted, are not duplicates, and have submitted forms are first placed under ASDD.