Telangana SIR: Address change applications at odds with enumeration forms ending up in deletion of voters
Many Form 8 applications for address change were rejected as the electors were deleted from rolls after not being found at the old address during Enumeration Phase
During the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Telangana, numerous voters are facing deletion despite submitting address change applications. This issue arises due to a combination of factors such as voters assuming the process doesn't apply to them due to their changed address, misguidance from officials, and systemic flaws within the SIR process.
Form-6 rejections and Form-7 deletions have become unusually high during both the pre-SIR and SIR phases, accounting for close to 27% of total Form-6 applications processed.
Many voters who have not participated in the Enumeration process are being incorrectly flagged as 'untraceable' and subsequently deleted from the electoral rolls. For instance, Linus Santhu from Secunderabad Cantonment constituency submitted a Form-8 application for address change before the SIR process began. However, his name was deleted due to being deemed 'untraceable' as he had not submitted the required Enumeration Form.
Similarly, Dev Mitra from Khairatabad constituency submitted her Form-8 online for an address change, expecting it to be processed within a week. However, her application remained pending for an extended period, and she was later informed that it had been rejected without a clear explanation.
These cases highlight the need for addressing the systemic flaws, poor coordination, technical glitches, and alleged political interference plaguing the SIR process. The process has resulted in lakhs of voters being wrongly classified as deceased or deleted, forcing them to reapply as fresh voters, which further undermines electoral inclusion.
Written by urgent.news from The Hindu's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
