Karnataka set for SIR rollout in a week, awaits EC go-ahead

BENGALURU: Even as Supreme Court's verdict on the validity of SIR of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar will determine its pan-India rollout, Karnataka is ready to launch the exercise as early as next week.

Sources in the office of Karnataka's chief electoral officer said preparations for SIR are almost complete. CEO V Anbukumar, however, said the state will proceed only after formal instructions from EC, which is expected to announce the nationwide rollout soon.

In Karnataka, the revision will be based on the 2002 electoral rolls - when the last intensive revision took place - with documentation required only from those added later. Discussions with political parties are complete. The CEO has finalised training modules for district election officers and electoral registration officers, and datasets of electoral rolls have been dispatched. DEOs and EROs are training 58,000 booth-level officers (BLOs) for house-to-house verification. BLO kits with enumeration forms and handbooks will be sent next week, with preparations expected to finish by Sept 25.

Document norms vary by age: those born before 1987 must provide one of 12 specified documents, with Aadhaar accepted only as identity proof. Applicants born between 1987 and 2004 need two documents - one for birth details and another of a parent. For those born after 2004, documents of the applicant and both parents are required; if one parent is a foreign national, passport and visa details are needed.

During the 90-day drive to remove invalid entries from Karnataka's 5.4-crore voter list, BLOs will use two QR-coded forms. No additions, deletions or address changes will be allowed after SIR notification.