Karnataka voter rolls shrink by 99 lakh after SIR

Karnataka’s electorate has fallen from 5.54 crore to 4.55 crore after the Election Commission removed 99.32 lakh names from the state’s final voter list, published Tuesday, October 27, following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

The final list has about 2.29 crore women and 2.25 crore men, so women outnumber men among registered voters. It also includes more than 6.83 lakh voters in the 18-19 age group and 2,841 third-gender voters, according to the revised figures.

The scale of the reduction has prompted questions about how the exercise was conducted, why the names were deleted and what it means for voters across the state.

The revision began June 30. Booth Level Officers (BLOs) went door to door to verify and update electoral records.

During the exercise, the Election Commission issued 43.82 lakh notices over discrepancies in enumeration forms. The notices were meant to resolve inconsistencies found during verification. The commission also received 10.42 lakh Form 6 applications from people seeking to be added to the rolls as new voters.

After the door-to-door verification, more than 1 crore names were placed in the absent, shifted, dead and duplicate (ASDD) category.

The reasons behind the large number of exclusions are likely to remain under scrutiny. The removal of nearly 1 crore names is a significant development in the state’s electoral administration.