Bengaluru, October 27: Karnataka now has 99.32 lakh fewer registered voters than it did before the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of its electoral rolls began. The final roll, published on Tuesday, lists 4,55,00,011 voters, down from 5,54,32,314.

The number is lower than the “1 crore names deleted” figure in many headlines, and the reason lies in the stages of the exercise.

How the numbers add up

• Before SIR: 5,54,32,314 voters on the roll, as of June 16.
• Draft roll: 4,46,35,975 voters, after more than 1.07 crore names were excluded.
• Final roll: 4,55,00,011 voters, after 8.64 lakh names were added back following claims, objections and fresh applications.

So the draft stage removed about 1.08 crore names, and the final roll restored a small share of them, leaving a net reduction of 99.32 lakh. That works out to roughly 17.9 per cent of the earlier electorate, or about one in six voters, across the state’s 224 Assembly constituencies.

Who is on the final roll?

The final roll includes 2,25,40,493 men, 2,29,12,355 women and 2,841 third-gender voters. Women now outnumber men.

Why names were dropped

At the draft stage, the largest group of deletions, about 80.62 lakh names, were those of voters recorded as having shifted residence or being untraceable. Others were removed because of death or duplicate entries.

Those marked as shifted or untraceable could apply for inclusion using Form 6. Election authorities received 7,87,534 such applications, including new voter registrations.

Questions about the process

Not everyone is satisfied. One report says that election officials filed at least 61,059 Form 7 applications seeking deletion of names without specifying any reason, although a reason is mandatory under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960. I have not seen a response from the Election Commission or the Chief Electoral Officer on this specific claim.

Across the country, the SIR has become a major political issue. Opposition parties say it has led to wrongful deletions of voters, while the BJP and the Election Commission say it is needed to clean up the rolls. Karnataka’s numbers will be read in that light, though I have not found a statement from the state’s political parties on the final list.

If your name is missing

Election authorities say being left off the final roll does not permanently bar anyone from voting. Eligible people can apply to be added through the usual channels, and Karnataka’s Chief Electoral Officer has announced an enrolment drive after the SIR to include eligible voters whose names were deleted.

How to check your name

• Visit the Chief Electoral Officer’s website, where constituency-wise rolls are available.

• Use the Election Commission’s electoral search portal.
• Use the ECINet app and search by name or EPIC (voter ID) number.

If your name is missing, keep your documents ready (proof of age, address, and identity) and apply with Form 6 at the earliest, since enrolment closes ahead of each election.

What to watch

How many deleted voters are restored in the enrolment drive, whether any legal challenges follow, and how the final roll is used in coming elections in the state.

 

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