K'taka: SIR process gathers pace with nearly 55 lakh forms distributed in two days
Bengaluru, July 1
The Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Karnataka gathered pace on its second day, with Booth Level Officers distributing nearly 55 lakh Enumeration Forms to voters across the state.
The Election Commission also released preliminary field verification data. During the exercise, 2,565 electors were marked as absent, shifted, dead, duplicate and others (ASDDO), while 21 electors were found to be untraceable or absent. Officials identified 816 permanently shifted electors, 1,383 deceased electors and 327 persons who were already enrolled. Eighteen cases were categorised under other reasons.
According to the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Karnataka, as of June 16, 2026, the state has a total of 5,54,32,314 registered electors.
As of 6 p.m. on Wednesday, July 1, a total of 54,68,607 Enumeration Forms had been distributed, accounting for 9.87 per cent of the total electorate.
The digitisation process has also continued, with 2,38,453 Enumeration Forms digitised, representing 0.43 per cent of the total electors. In addition, 26,213 electors submitted their Enumeration Forms online, accounting for 0.05 per cent of the electorate.
Meanwhile, the state government has enabled a digital attendance mechanism for officials deployed in the Special Intensive Revision exercise.
As Booth Level Officers and other election personnel are engaged in extensive house-to-house verification and field visits, they have been exempted from marking physical attendance at their offices during the revision process.
To facilitate attendance recording, the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (e-Governance), through a letter issued on July 1, has activated the "On Other Duty" (OOD) facility in the Kartavya mobile application.
The OOD feature enables officials engaged in election duties to mark their attendance digitally while carrying out fieldwork, ensuring uninterrupted implementation of the statewide Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
The Special Intensive Revision will continue until July 29. The draft electoral roll will be published on August 5, followed by a period for claims and objections until September 4. The final electoral roll is scheduled to be published on October 7.
Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Tuesday launched Karnataka's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls by filling out his own Enumeration Form at his Sadashivanagar residence and urged all eligible voters to complete the exercise to safeguard their voting rights.
He underlined that voter registration was key to accessing government benefits.
Booker Prize-winning Kannada author Banu Mushtaq on Tuesday said the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls was a simple and straightforward exercise, adding that her experience had dispelled fears that it was intended to harass citizens.
She also appealed to officials to patiently guide the public through the enumeration process.
— IANS
Reader Comments
Interesting approach with the digital attendance tracking for officials—seems practical. But I wonder if the 2,565 marked as ASDDO are accurate or if there will be errors. In a state as large as Karnataka, field verification must be a nightmare. At least the timeline until October gives enough room for corrections.
Good to see Banu Mushtaq saying it's not harassment—many people were worried about that. But we still need to ensure the forms reach every household, especially in rural areas. Also, the CM filling his form is a nice symbolic gesture, but the real test is in the implementation on the ground.
Interesting data point—over 5.5 crore registered electors. That's a massive electorate. The SIR process seems well-structured, but I'm curious about how they handle the "untraceable" cases. 21 out of 5.5 crore is negligible, but those 1,383 deceased still on rolls could distort data. Transparency in this process is key.
Respectfully, I think the 55 lakh forms distributed is a good start, but the deadline until July 29 is quite short for a state of this size. Many families in remote areas may not get visited in time. Also, the online form submission option is nice, but digital literacy remains a challenge. Hope the BLOs are patient and thorough.
This is much needed. Earlier, I saw many duplicate entries in my area. The fact that they already found 327 duplicate enrollments shows how important this revision is. I just hope the claims
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