Pune: Booth-level officers (BLOs) are allegedly prodding citizens to visit election offices to submit documents against notices served under the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls instead of collecting them from home, as promised by Election Commission of India (ECI).A voter in Kothrud decided not to visit the BLO’s office after receiving a notice. He expected the officer to come home as per ECI’s assurance. No one visited him till Monday.Under ECI’s revised procedure, BLOs are expected to collect supporting documents from voters at their homes and upload them on ECINET, allowing electoral registration officers (EROs) and assistant EROs to clear notices without routine personal hearings. The initiative is meant to spare voters, particularly senior citizens, the inconvenience of travelling to election offices.“I had to visit the BLO, as asked, and have been given a notice for a hearing at a designated place. I have to produce my documents there. There are no checks on whether BLOs are visiting homes or not,” a retired defence officer wrote on social media, seeking the attention of ECI.The state’s draft electoral roll was published on Aug 31. As many as 1.22 crore electors were flagged under unmapped voters and logical discrepancies.An elderly resident of a housing society in Kondhwa said both his and his son’s names were flagged because only their initials appeared in the records. He visited the BLO’s office to submit documents.“It is a task. These BLOs are hardly there in the office. I first thought of submitting the documents online, but later decided to give these by hand,” said the senior citizen.Another senior citizen, Vernon Fernandes, said the whole process of SIR was tedious. “Many of my friends have received notices but have decided not to bother. Some are not even interested to check if their names are there,” he said.BLOs passed the buck to citizens. They claimed that voters were often unavailable at home or did not answer calls. One of them said residents could cooperate and meet BLOs at their housing society offices or nearby locations instead of insisting on individual home visits.Some BLOs have continued door-to-door visits. An officer in Yerawada visited four elderly voters at home last week because travelling to camps was difficult for them. He said only 14 cases remained pending and he left notes or messages with their children.
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