Karnataka SIR: What The Final Electoral Roll Reveals About Nearly 1 Cr Voter Deletions

Karnataka has published its final electoral roll following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), bringing the state’s electorate to 4,55,00,011 from 5,54,32,314 before the exercise began. More than 99.32 lakh names have been removed, while constituency-wise voter lists are now available on the Chief Electoral Officer’s website.

The revision was undertaken with the stated objective of ensuring that every eligible voter was included and every ineligible name removed to achieve a “pure, clean electorate”.

However, the final figures show that the state’s voter base remains close to one crore lower than it was before the exercise.

What Changed Between The Draft And Final Rolls?

The draft electoral roll had recorded a sharper decline, bringing the electorate down from 5.54 crore to 4.46 crore after more than 1.07 crore names were deleted.

The final roll adds back 8.64 lakh names compared with the draft, taking the electorate to 4.55 crore. Despite these additions, the overall number of voters remains significantly lower than before the SIR began.

The final electorate comprises more than 2.25 crore male voters, 2.29 crore female voters and 2,841 third-gender voters. It also includes more than 6.83 lakh voters aged 18-19 and over 3.92 lakh voters above the age of 85.

Those who submitted Form-6 applications within the claims and objections period have been included in the final roll. Applications submitted after September 23, the deadline for claims and objections, will be processed through supplementary lists published every quarter after the SIR.

The Chief Electoral Officer’s office has also said that an enrolment drive will be conducted after the revision to include eligible voters whose names were deleted during the exercise.

Why Were Voters’ Names Deleted?

The deletions were recorded under different categories, including deceased voters, duplicate entries, voters who had shifted residence or could not be found, and those classified under ‘Others’.

At the draft stage, 16.39 lakh names were removed on the ground that the voters were dead, while more than seven lakh were marked as duplicate entries. Another 3.83 lakh names were deleted under the ‘Others’ category.

The category has not been clearly explained by the CEO’s office. The office said it included people who “refused to sign”.

The largest category comprised voters who had shifted residence or could not be found at their registered addresses during the enumeration phase. As many as 80.62 lakh names were removed under this category.

These voters were not necessarily ineligible to vote. They had to apply through Form-6 to have their names restored. However, only 7,87,534 applications for inclusion were received, including those from new voters.

What Do The Form-7 Objections Show?

Another issue concerns objections filed by election officials themselves. At least 61,059 Form-7 applications seeking deletion of names from Karnataka’s electoral rolls were filed by officials, reported The Hindu.

None of these applications mentioned a reason for deletion, although stating the reason is mandatory under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.

Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs) were listed as the objectors. According to the officials, the system “auto-generated” the forms with their digital signatures when voters could not be reached during hearings on notices issued over no mapping or logical discrepancies. These voters were subsequently marked as “ineligible”.

This meant that the same election machinery was involved in raising objections against voters’ names and deciding whether those names should remain on the electoral rolls.

Under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, an objection not filed in the prescribed manner, including one that does not state the reason for deletion, is liable to be rejected.