With the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) under way, many apartment complexes across the city have reported that the purple stickers, which Booth Level Officers (BLOs) are required to paste outside a residence only after ‘successfully distributing’ enumeration forms to voters, are being pasted without forms being distributed or BLOs even meeting the residents. On the other hand, at several other places, forms have been distributed but no stickers have been pasted.

Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) V. Anbu Kumar had clarified that two stickers would be used — square-shaped purple stickers to indicate that forms have been successfully distributed, and circular red stickers when a house is found locked or closed, or when a follow-up visit is required. 

Residents of an apartment complex in Bellandur told The Hindu that one BLO had pasted purple stickers outside some flats without any forms being distributed, even though residents were at home, while at other flats, he distributed forms but did not paste any sticker.

Similar concerns were reported from Banaswadi, Benson Town, and in apartment complexes in Bellandur and Varthur, where residents said there appeared to be no uniform procedure being followed.

Signed but not verified

Some voters also complained that BLOs are signing the declaration without addressing even basic queries, saying they themselves did not know the answers and that their only task was to distribute the forms. The enumeration form contains a declaration to be signed by the BLO stating they have verified details.

Under pressure

When contacted, several BLOs admitted that they themselves were clueless and under immense pressure to complete form distribution, as Bengaluru Urban continues to lag behind every other district in the State. They said pressure was coming from both election officials and booth-level agents of political parties to push up the distribution percentage. 

One BLO whom The Hindu spoke to admitted, “We have not been trained. We don’t know what to tell voters when they ask questions.” Even Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs) do not answer queries or give different instructions and simply instruct them to distribute forms so that the percentage goes up,” he added.

As of July 9, Bengaluru Urban had distributed enumeration forms to around 55% of electors, a sharp jump from about 33% recorded on July 6.