Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], October 27 (ANI): Karnataka’s electorate has declined by 99.32 lakh following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), with the final electoral roll published on Tuesday listing 4.55 crore electors, compared with 5.54 crore before the exercise began.
According to data from the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Karnataka, the final roll comprises 2.26 crore male electors, 2.29 crore female electors and 2,841 third-gender electors. It includes 6.83 lakh young electors in the 18-19 age group and 3.92 lakh electors aged 85 years and above.
The final count represents a decline of approximately 17.92 per cent from the initial electorate. The draft electoral roll, published on August 24, had recorded 4.46 crore general electors, marking a reduction of 1.08 crore from the pre-revision count.
The final roll recorded a net increase of 8.64 lakh electors compared with the draft roll, leaving the total electorate nearly one crore below the count recorded before the SIR.
During house-to-house verification conducted by 60,923 Booth Level Officers (BLOs) between June 30 and August 17, enumeration forms were generated for 5.54 crore electors. Of these, 4.46 crore electors, or 80.52 per cent, submitted their forms.
The remaining 1.08 crore electors, accounting for 19.48 per cent, did not submit enumeration forms and were not included in the draft roll. The CEO Karnataka data categorised the probable reasons as 19.01 lakh electors marked absent, 65.46 lakh permanently shifted, 16.40 lakh dead and 7.10 lakh duplicate or already enrolled.
During the claims and objections period, 10.08 lakh additions were recorded, including 8.77 lakh through Form 6, 2,312 through Form 6A and 1.29 lakh through Form 8 for shifting. The process also resulted in 1.88 lakh deletions and 8.97 lakh modifications or corrections.
In addition, notices were generated for 43.83 lakh electors whose details did not match during the verification process. According to the CEO office, all notices were delivered and hearings were conducted. Following verification, 61,867 electors were marked ineligible for inclusion in the final roll.
The CEO office has asked electors to verify their names through the offices of Electoral Registration Officers, Assistant Electoral Registration Officers and BLOs. The final electoral roll is also available on the CEO Karnataka website and the Election Commission’s voter services portal.
Any person aggrieved by an Electoral Registration Officer’s decision may appeal to the District Magistrate under Section 24(a) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950. A second appeal can be filed before the Chief Electoral Officer under Section 24(b), the release said.
The exercise covered all 224 Assembly constituencies in Karnataka. The CEO office said the process involved election officials, BLOs and representatives of seven recognised political parties: AAP, BSP, BJP, CPI(M), INC, NPP and JD(S).
The CEO office thanked BLOs for conducting house-to-house visits covering 5.54 crore electors and holding hearings for 43.83 lakh electors. It also thanked electors for their cooperation, reiterating the guiding principle of the exercise: “No eligible citizen is left out while no ineligible person is included in the electoral roll.”
Meanwhile, the exercise has been heavily criticised by the Congress. Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said it is the duty of the state government and party to protect voters. Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has filed a PIL in the Supreme Court seeking a halt to the nationwide SIR drive and suspension of CEC Gyanesh Kumar, alleging discrepancies. (ANI)
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