BENGALURU, October 28 (Aalimi Nation) – Karnataka's final electoral roll, published on Tuesday after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), has 4.55 crore voters, about 99.32 lakh fewer than the 5.54 crore registered before the exercise began. The Karnataka SIR final voter roll was released by the state's Chief Electoral Officer, V. Anbukkumar.
According to the Chief Electoral Officer's office, the state now has 4,55,00,011 registered voters, against 5,54,32,314 before the revision. The published breakdown lists 2,25,40,493 men, 2,29,12,355 women and 2,841 voters of the third gender, so women outnumber men. More than 6.83 lakh voters are aged 18 to 19.
The draft roll, published on August 24, had 4,46,80,151 electors. The final roll is larger than the draft because names were added during the claims and objections period.
Officials said the largest group of deletions, about 80.62 lakh names, covered voters who had shifted residence or could not be traced at their registered addresses. Another 16.39 lakh entries were removed because the voters were recorded as dead, more than 7 lakh as duplicates and 3.83 lakh under "others".
Officials stressed that people classed as shifted or untraced are not necessarily ineligible. Those who are eligible can seek inclusion by submitting Form 6.
Between June 16 and October 26, the Chief Electoral Officer's office received about 26.23 lakh applications, of which about 20.64 lakh were accepted, 3.03 lakh were rejected and 2.55 lakh were pending. Notices went to about 43.8 lakh electors whose forms had discrepancies or could not be mapped, and 61,960 names were identified for deletion after hearings.
After the draft roll, 10,08,038 electors were added, 1,88,324 were deleted and 8,96,519 entries were modified, the office said. People who apply through Form 6 after the claims period ended on September 23 will be included through supplementary rolls published every quarter.
Responding to reports that about 60,000 Form 7 applications had been generated to delete voters, Mr. Anbukkumar said there was no provision for the bulk generation of Form 7. He appealed to voters: "If any eligible voter has not yet been included, I request them to submit Form 6."
Opposition parties, civil rights groups and election experts have criticised the exercise, warning of large-scale disenfranchisement, particularly among migrants, Dalits, Adivasis, women, Muslims and economically vulnerable communities. Officials said no name was removed without verification.
Booth Level Agents of political parties took part in the process. The Chief Electoral Officer's office listed 1,15,112 of them, including 52,419 from the Congress, 48,614 from the BJP and 14,020 from the JD(S).
Karnataka is part of the third phase of the SIR, which covers 19 states and Union Territories. The Supreme Court upheld the legality of the revision in May, observing that it does not allow the Election Commission to decide whether a person is an Indian citizen.
The Chief Electoral Officer's office has announced a post-SIR enrolment drive aimed at restoring eligible voters who were left out. Voters can check whether their names appear on the final roll through the Election Commission's website and apply for inclusion through Form 6 at any time, with new applications to be considered for the quarterly supplementary rolls.
