Bengaluru, 11 September

The Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) in Karnataka issued an order on Friday allowing an adult family member a senior citizen, Person with Disabilities (PwD), sick or overseas voter to submit documents related to notices amid the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. 

The memorandum was sent to officers and stated that Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) or Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs) must accept documents from a family member on behalf of the aforementioned electors when disposing notices that were issued to such voters. 

The EROs and AEROs have been told to explain the procedure followed for issuing and disposing of notices during their weekly meetings with political parties

So far, only the person against whom a notice was issued was required to attend the hearing. But this had prompted backlash as many people not in Karnataka or India had been unable to attend, while senior citizens, people with illness had said that they were unable to attend the hearings. Some people had even cited clashes with their work. 

Notably, the directive comes as the ECI has said 28.18 per cent of the hearings have already been completed. 

The last hearing will be conducted on 12 September, while 22 September is the last date for disposal of claims and objections, the CEO's office said.