In an important relief for vulnerable voters, the Telangana Chief Electoral Officer has clarified that an adult family member can appear on behalf of certain voters during proceedings related to the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Chief Electoral Officer C. Sudharshan Reddy said adult family members of senior citizens, persons with disabilities, sick voters and overseas electors can appear before the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) or Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO) and submit the required documents on their behalf.
Who can use this facility?
The arrangement applies to vulnerable electors who may find it difficult to attend a personal hearing themselves, including:
➤ Senior citizens
➤ Persons with disabilities
➤ Sick voters
➤ Overseas electors
The family member appearing on their behalf must be an adult.
Why are voters receiving notices?
The SIR process is being used to verify electoral-roll entries.
Across Telangana, 92.8 lakh electors are expected to receive notices. Of these, around 60.5 lakh have been flagged because of anomalies in their enumeration-form data, while another 32.3 lakh could not be mapped to the 2002 SIR electoral rolls.
In Hyderabad alone, more than 12 lakh notices have been reported.
Receiving a notice does not automatically mean that a voter’s name will be deleted. The voter is being given an opportunity to provide documents and clarify the discrepancy.
Officials asked to explain the process
The Chief Electoral Officer has directed EROs and AEROs to explain the procedure for issuing and disposing of notices.
These explanations are also being discussed during meetings with political parties.
The objective is to ensure that voters understand why they received a notice and what documents or information they need to provide.
Warning against fake documents
The CEO has issued a strong warning against submitting false, forged or misleading documents during the hearing process.
Providing false information to a public servant can attract legal action under applicable law.
Making a false declaration in connection with the preparation, revision, correction, inclusion or exclusion of an electoral-roll entry can also attract penalties under the Representation of the People Act.
How voters can check their notice status
Voters can check their notice status through the Election Commission’s voter services system.
The process includes:
➤ Log in using the registered mobile number
➤ Select “Submit Document Against Notice Issued”
➤ Enter the EPIC/Voter ID number
➤ Enter the OTP received on the registered mobile number
➤ Check whether a notice has been issued
If the system shows “no record found”, it could mean that no notice has been issued yet or that a notice is not required. Voters can check again later.
Important for Telangana voters
The clarification is particularly important for families caring for elderly, sick or disabled voters and for families of overseas electors.
Instead of requiring every vulnerable voter to personally attend the hearing, an eligible adult family member can represent them and submit the necessary documents.
However, voters should ensure that only genuine and valid documents are submitted.
