Bengaluru: Karnataka’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) office has directed election officials to let adult family members appear on behalf of senior citizens, persons with disabilities, sick persons and overseas electors during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.The decision follows requests from voters and political parties, after the Election Commission on Friday permitted the arrangement. The family member must appear before the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) or assistant ERO with the necessary documents.Joint CEO S Yogeshwara said the step is to make the SIR process easier for electors who find it difficult to appear in person.Separately, ECI has also planned a second special campaign on Sept 19 and 20 for voters who have turned 18 but do not have an EPIC card.The CEO office has asked the district election officer (DEO) Bengaluru, the Chief Commissioner of Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), DEOs and deputy commissioners across the state, and additional DEOs of BBMP Central, North and South election districts to instruct EROs and AEROs.The instructions have been circulated to officials concerned in all the 224 assembly constituencies. The CEO office has also released photos and videos of officers reaching out to vulnerable voters to help them enrol.The move is expected to ease pressure on vulnerable voters, but elderly and unwell citizens continued to queue up at hearing centres through the week, exposing a gap between the order and its implementation on the ground.At the GBA office on 9th Main, HSR Layout, an 86-year-old woman with a pacemaker turned up in person, accompanied by her neighbour. “It was total chaos. Seniors waited for more than an hour in a token-based system. I began objecting, when the AERO said they could have just walked in. There was a lot of information gap up until then,” said Uma Mani.By Friday, the CEO office had allowed family members to represent seniors at hearings, but lack of documents emerged as another hurdle. “We have kept their applications pending for now and are awaiting clarity on ways to navigate this,” said assistant ERO Geeta, at a school in Wilson Garden.
