Kerala SIR: electors should be summoned for hearings only in unavoidable cases, say political parties

Key Points

1. Political parties in Kerala requested the Election Commission of India (EC) to minimize hearings during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
2. The request was made during a meeting convened by Chief Electoral Officer (Kerala), Rathan U. Kelkar.
3. Concerns were raised about notices being issued to electors in the ‘no mapping’ list and those with ‘logical discrepancies’.
4. There are over 19.32 lakh electors in Kerala in the ‘no mapping’ list.
5. Notices for hearings have been generated for 17.71 lakh electors in the ‘no mapping’ list, with 18,915 notices delivered.
6. Kannur has the highest number of delivered notices (3,632), while Thiruvananthapuram has the lowest (314).
7. Political parties requested that authorized representatives be allowed to appear for bedridden, aged, and overseas electors.
8. EROs/AEROs have been asked not to generate notices for cases of ‘logical discrepancies’.