SIR: Voters above 85 years face double checks, say BLOs
Booth Level Officers in Karnataka are reportedly flagging voters aged 85 and older as 'probable absent, shifted, dead/deleted' (ASDD) during electoral roll revisions. While officials deny formal instructions, residents and civil society groups express concern that this practice could lead to the disenfranchisement of senior citizens.
Why it matters
The report raises significant concerns regarding the integrity of the electoral process and the potential for systemic age-based voter suppression.
With the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) under way in Karnataka, Booth Level Officers (BLOs) say they have been instructed to “double verify” voters aged ‘85 years and above’ and place them under the “probable absent, shifted, dead/deleted or duplicate (ASDD)” category.
While Chief Electoral Officer V. Anbu Kumar denied that any such instructions had been issued, multiple BLOs told The Hindu that they had been directed to flag voters above 85 for ASDD verification ‘even before any discrepancy has been established’.
“Nobody whose enumeration form has been submitted should be placed under the ASDD category. But within the BLO app, there is a category called ‘Probable ASD’ where all voters above 85 are directly linked. We have been told to mark voters above 85 as ASDD because they are presumed unlikely to be voting,” a BLO said.
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