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Karnataka final voter list shrinks after intensive revision (Img: IANS)
Bengaluru: Karnataka’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls concluded on October 27, leaving the state with 4,54,55,689 registered voters, down from approximately 5.5 crore before the exercise. The revision resulted in a net reduction of around 99.76 lakh voters from the original electorate.
The final list includes 6.83 lakh new voters, while approximately 86.56 lakh voters belong to the 20-29 age group. The exercise was undertaken to update electoral rolls by identifying eligible voters, removing ineligible entries and allowing citizens to correct their details.
When the electoral rolls were frozen on June 16, Karnataka had around 5.5 crore voters. Following the enumeration exercise, the draft list published on August 24 excluded approximately 1.08 crore names, or 19.48% of the original electorate, under the ASDDO categories: absent, shifted, dead, duplicate and others.
Voters classified as permanently shifted accounted for the largest share of deletions, with 65.45 lakh names, representing 11.8% of the ASDDO list.
During the subsequent notices phase, 43.82 lakh voters were issued notices. Of these, approximately 43.2 lakh were included in the final list, while 61,867 were excluded.
The two-month process for claims, notices and objections began on August 24. However, claims and objections could be submitted only during the first month, until September 23.
Between June 16 and September 23, authorities received 7.87 lakh Form 6 applications seeking inclusion in the electoral rolls and 4,530 Form 6A applications from non-resident Indians. A total of 58,475 objections and deletion requests were also filed by voters or their family members.
Additionally, 10.99 lakh voters sought changes to their details, including spelling corrections and modifications to polling booth locations.
The SIR began on June 20, with 59,050 booth-level officers (BLOs), 332 Assistant Electoral Registration Officers and 224 Electoral Registration Officers initially deployed. The number of BLOs subsequently rose to 60,932, while AEROs increased to 4,258.
Recognised political parties appointed 1.33 lakh booth-level agents to help distribute enumeration forms and submit objections. The enumeration deadline was extended twice from its original July 29 date, eventually allowing the exercise to continue into August.
The final electoral roll reflects the outcome of the enumeration, verification and claims process across the state.
