Karnataka’s final electoral roll lists 4.55 crore voters after SIR, down by 99 lakh

Karnataka’s final electoral roll published on Tuesday lists 4.55 crore voters, nearly 99.32 lakh fewer than the electorate recorded before the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), state Chief Electoral Officer V Anbukkumar said.

The state’s electorate has fallen from 5,54,32,314 before the revision to 4,55,00,011 in the final roll.

The revised list comprises 2,25,83,107 male voters, 2,29,14,063 female voters and 2,841 third-gender electors, according to the chief electoral officer’s office. More than 6.83 lakh voters are aged 18-19, while 3,92,134 are aged 85 and above. The roll also includes 3,252 non-resident Indian voters.

Anbukkumar said the Election Commission had scheduled the revision from 30 June to 27 October. The draft electoral roll was published on 24 August, followed by the processing of applications, notices, inquiries and hearings before the final list was released.

The draft roll had listed 4,46,80,151 electors. Since 16 June, 8,19,714 electors have been added to the roll, he said.

Between 16 June and 26 October, authorities received approximately 26.23 lakh applications, including 10,62,336 Form 6 applications for inclusion, 4,872 Form 6A applications, 2,29,235 Form 7 applications for deletion and around 13.27 lakh Form 8 applications for corrections and other changes.

Of these applications, around 20.64 lakh were accepted, 3.03 lakh rejected and 2.55 lakh remained pending, according to the chief electoral officer. All but around 4,000 applications were submitted online.

Anbukkumar said 10,08,038 electors were added and 1,88,324 deleted following the disposal of claims and objections and the completion of prescribed procedures. A further 8,96,519 modifications were made to the draft roll.

Of the deletions, 1,091 related to deceased electors, 184 to absent electors, 762 to duplicate entries or people already enrolled, and 1,24,327 to changes of residence. Around 61,960 people were found ineligible after notices and hearings.

The CEO said notices had been issued to approximately 43.8 lakh electors. Electoral registration officers and assistant electoral registration officers conducted hearings and identified ineligible individuals following inquiries and reasoned orders.

Responding to media reports that officials had generated around 60,000 Form 7 applications to delete voters, Anbukkumar said there was no provision for bulk generation of such forms. Each had to be generated in the name of the competent officer following the prescribed inquiry and an order, he said.

He urged voters to check their details in the final roll and asked eligible people whose names were missing to submit Form 6 for inclusion.