Over 92 Lakh Telangana Voters to Receive SIR Notices, Says CEO Sudarshan Reddy

HYDERABAD — Telangana Chief Electoral Officer C. Sudarshan Reddy announced on Monday that over 92 lakh voters across the state will receive notices as the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise enters its notice period. The group includes more than 60 lakh voters with recorded anomalies and 32 lakh unmapped voters.

Speaking to the media in Hyderabad after releasing the draft electoral roll, Sudarshan Reddy said that Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will distribute notices directly to voters in the same manner enumeration forms were circulated. During the two-month notice phase and disposal of claims and objections, which will continue until October 15, Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) will scrutinise voter eligibility.

EROs and Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs) will issue notices using formats provided by the Election Commission of India. Voters who receive these notices must submit replies to their respective EROs, who will conduct hearings before disposing of each case. The CEO stated that between 500 and 1,000 Additional AEROs will be deployed alongside the existing staff of over 40,600 personnel.

Individuals dissatisfied with an ERO's decision may appeal to the district magistrate or district electoral officer within 15 days under Section 24(a) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950. A second appeal can be made to the CEO within 30 days of the district magistrate's ruling under Section 24(b).

Alongside the draft roll, poll authorities uploaded the ASDD (absent, shifted, dead, or duplicate) list containing 73,39,235 entries. Election officials identified 9.22 lakh deceased voters, 11.25 lakh absent voters, 45.18 lakh shifted voters, 6.7 lakh multiple enrollments, and over 1 lakh under other categories. These booth-wise lists have been posted at ERO and AERO offices, gram panchayats, municipal offices, and online.

Officials noted that voters missing from the draft roll can submit Form 6 with a declaration form. The CEO clarified that the state government's Family Register Certificate is not accepted under ECI guidelines, though the Family Member Certificate issued under the 2013 memo remains valid.

Following a rationalisation process, the total number of polling stations in Telangana increased by 368, rising from 35,985 to 36,353. The change reflects a cap reducing the maximum number of voters per station from 1,500 to 1,200, as well as the creation of separate stations for remote areas located more than 2 km away.