Karnataka SIR covers over half of electorate in first five days

Karnataka’s Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls has crossed the halfway mark in the distribution of enumeration forms within the first five days of the exercise, according to figures released by the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, even as the process continues to draw political criticism.

The house-to-house revision drive, which began on 30 June, is scheduled to continue till 29 July, alongside the digitisation of forms collected from voters across the state.

The latest progress report shows that 2,78,21,970 Enumeration Forms have been distributed so far, covering 50.19 per cent of Karnataka’s electorate. The state has 5,54,32,314 registered voters as per the electoral roll published on 16 June.

According to the data, 6,352 polling stations — 10.76 per cent of the total — have completed full distribution of forms, while another 5,538 polling stations, or 9.38 per cent, have crossed the 90 per cent mark.

Digitisation, however, is at a much earlier stage. So far, 17,88,330 forms, or 3.23 per cent of the total electorate, have been digitised. Two polling stations have completed digitisation for all electors, while seven have crossed 90 per cent.

The Chief Electoral Officer’s office said 77,624 voters, representing 0.14 per cent of the electorate, had submitted their forms online.

During field verification, Booth Level Officers have so far identified 28,611 electors under the ASDDO category — absent, shifted, dead and duplicate. The list includes 433 electors found untraceable or absent, 11,697 who had permanently shifted residence, 13,859 reported dead, 2,461 already enrolled elsewhere, and 161 marked under other reasons.

The Election Commission is carrying out the Special Intensive Revision to verify and update the electoral roll through door-to-door enumeration and digital processing before the publication of the revised voter list.

The exercise, however, has become politically contentious. Union minister H D Kumaraswamy on Saturday attacked the revision process, alleging that it lacked credibility and calling for it to be scrapped. The Karnataka BJP has also complained to the State Election Commission and sought a fresh Special Intensive Revision in areas where discrepancies are being reported.

With IANS inputs