SIR: How notices will be served and where voters will face hearings

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The notice will be published in both Kannada and English. However, there is no way for a voter to check online whether they have been flagged for an anomaly. | Photo Credit: File Photo

Besides more than 1.07 crore voters flagged under the Absent, Shifted, Dead, Duplicate, and Outstation (ASDDO) category who will be removed from the draft electoral roll, notices will be served to another 43.8 lakh voters. The notices will be delivered by booth-level officers (BLOs), while hearings will be conducted by Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) or Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs).

BLOs will go house to house to serve the notices. Any government premises, such as a police station or a government building nearest to the polling station, may be chosen as the hearing venue. A voter receiving the notice must meet the ERO in person, even if the documents are submitted online. A QR code will be printed on the notice through which a voter can scan and submit the documents online.

The name, venue, and date of the hearing will be mentioned in the notice, along with the reason the person has received it.

A BLO will make only two attempts to serve the notice. If a person does not attend the hearing, the ERO/AERO will reschedule it “only once.” Moreover, the notice can be served to someone on the voter’s behalf — meaning a family member or, if no family member is present, a neighbour. However, only the voter can and must appear for the hearing. “In case a person is hospitalised, then the ERO/AERO hearing the case should go to the hospital to conduct the hearing,” State Election Commission officials said.

The notice will be published in both Kannada and English. However, there is no way for a voter to check online whether they have been flagged for an anomaly. The CEO’s office said the anomalies will not be published online, though in some cases, the information may be made available at the gram panchayat level or at polling stations.

It will take up to seven days to generate and serve a notice after the ERO/AERO initiates the process. There will be approximately three days between the time a voter receives the notice and the date by which they must respond.

Between August 24 and September 23, the period for claims and objections will run parallel to the notice process. During this period, voters can submit Forms 6, 7, and 8, and eligible names will be added to the final electoral roll. The notice process, meanwhile, will continue until October 22.

In cases involving deletion — where a person does not appear for a hearing, fails to provide any of the 11 prescribed documents, or where their eligibility is suspected — the ERO will have to issue a speaking order. A Form 7 seeking deletion will also be generated. In case of an objection, a person can first approach the District Election Officer (DEO), the first appellate authority. If the voter is still not satisfied, they can approach the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), the second and final appellate authority.