Bengaluru: If you are one of the 5.5 crore voters in Karnataka, there is a chance your name could be removed from the draft electoral rolls unless you act before Aug 17. The state election machinery has flagged 1.08 crore voters — 19.5% of the electorate — under the ASDDO tag (absent, shifted, dead, duplicate and others). If you are in the category, you risk exclusion if your status isn’t corrected in time.The enumeration phase of the special intensive revision (SIR) – during which voters can edit or update their submitted forms – closes on Aug 17. It gives people a narrow window to set things right before the draft rolls are published on Aug 24.For those who miss the cut-off, there’s still a way back but it involves paperwork. Election Commission (ECI) officials say anyone who is a genuine resident of Karnataka and hasn’t enrolled as a voter anywhere else can file Form 6. Unlike other verification processes, Form 6 doesn’t tie you down to a fixed checklist.“There is no defined set of documents, thereby giving the voter a choice to furnish the document that they would possess. These applications and documents are again subject to verification by the ERO (electoral registration officer),” an EC official explained about the any other document’ for proof of date and place of birth.That flexibility could come as a relief for residents scrambling to prove where they live or when they were born, since Form 6 accepts ‘any other document’ as proof of residence and date of birth. The accompanying declaration form — identical to the enumeration form — also lists the permanent residence certificate (PRC) as valid proof.PRC has had a bumpy ride so far. Despite early political disputes over whether it should even be recognised, the state has gone ahead and issued 66,702 such certificates to residents. It remains part of a 12-document list that voters can use to prove residency if their names are flagged during the notice phase.What’s still unclear is exactly which document will be asked for and why. The system is expected to flag discrepancies between Aug 17 and 24, and officials say voters will only find out then which of the 12 documents they need to submit.Two groups are likely to receive the notices: voters whose details could not be mapped, and the larger set of ASDDO voters who will need to apply afresh through Form 6 and and need document verification. For both, PRC could turn out to be a handy backup.The state govt, meanwhile, is pushing PRC well beyond this exercise, positioning it as a fallback document for SIR and other official purposes. Additional chief secretary of state, revenue department, Rajender Kataria summed up its role: “PRC is an enabler in case one cannot get other documents.”With the deadline just two days away, officials are urging voters not to wait for a notice — checking their status now could save a last-minute scramble for paperwork later.
