Midnight hearings, Kannada-only notices: Bengaluru voters struggle with electoral roll
In Bengaluru, several voters are facing confusion and inconvenience over electoral roll notices, with reports of hearings scheduled at midnight, language barriers, and difficulty in reaching officials.
A man identified as Vinod (name changed), who lives in Delhi while his family is in Bengaluru, said his entire family received notices for being unable to map themselves to the 2002 electoral rolls. When he tried to submit documents against the notice, he learned that the hearing for his family had been scheduled for 12 a.m. — midnight. Unaware that such a hearing could be held at that hour, he attempted to contact his Booth Level Officer (BLO), but did not get any response.
Similar cases have left electors across the city struggling to understand the process. Many complain that they had provided correct details but still received notices — either because of errors made by BLOs while preparing the draft roll, or in some cases despite no apparent mistake at all.
A major issue is the difficulty in reaching BLOs or Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), whose contact information is printed on EPIC cards and enumeration forms. As a result, many voters are rushing to ward offices and polling stations to find out when and where their hearings are scheduled, and to collect their notices. While the list of notices has been made public, it does not mention hearing dates, venues, or times, forcing people to visit offices in person. Additionally, the lists are reportedly not available at polling stations and hearing venues where voters go to check their status.
Activist Vinay Sreenivas, who has been organising camps under the “My Vote, My Right” initiative, said his mother received a notice citing a “logical discrepancy” due to a difference between her name in the current electoral roll and the 2002 rolls. The discrepancy was only a space in the name — for example, “Suman Rekha” in the 2002 roll and “Sumanrekha” in the current roll. There was no spelling mistake or substantive mismatch.
Another voter from Rajajinagar reported that the addition of an “a” had changed her husband’s name in the records. The BLO told them the mistake occurred during transliteration from English to Kannada while digitising the enumeration form. The couple, both over 78 years old, expressed concern about how they were expected to collect the notice, appear for a hearing, and determine which documents to produce. The woman said she had contacted the BLO during a special camp conducted by the Election Commission of India but received no help.
Many voters have requested that the full notice be made available in English online, or that a physical copy of the notice be provided in both Kannada and English, as promised by Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer V. Anbu Kumar. They point out that while the enumeration form followed a standard format and could be filled despite being only in Kannada, the notices contain different reasons and information that many voters are unable to understand. This, they say, leaves them uncertain about how to respond and comply with the process.
