SIR: ‘Refused to sign’ category includes suspected foreign nationals, say BLOs
Karnataka election officials are categorizing suspected foreign nationals under a 'refused to sign' label in the voter enumeration app. This practice has raised concerns about transparency, as the public data does not distinguish between those who refuse to sign and those flagged for citizenship eligibility.
Why it matters
The lack of clear categorization in voter rolls impacts the integrity of electoral processes and raises questions about how citizenship verification is handled at the booth level.
With the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) nearing a month since the enumeration began, Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) has not made public the number of “suspected foreign nationals” identified in the State, even though the Election Commission of India (ECI) has consistently maintained that identifying such cases is a key objective of the SIR.
As of 6 p.m. on Monday, State-wide SIR data showed 24,305 voters under the “others” category. However, Booth Level Officers (BLOs) told The Hindu that ‘suspected foreign nationals’ or voters whose citizenship or eligibility is considered doubtful are being recorded under the “refused to sign” option in the BLO application, which is reflected to the public as “others”.
“The BLO application provides only five categories – which can be selected after three visits to an elector’s residence–already enrolled (duplicate), death, permanently shifted, untraceable/absent and refused to sign,” the BLOs said.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in