Karnataka SIR: Final polls start on October 27; net gains remain small

When the exercise began, Karnataka had 5.54 million voters. | Photo credit: File photo

After more than three months of cleaning under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, the final electoral roll of Karnataka will be released on October 27. The list will be uploaded on the website of the Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka.

The exercise, which began with the stated objective of ensuring that no eligible voter and no ineligible voter is excluded from the rolls, resulted in deletion of 1.07 million names across the state. When the exercise began, Karnataka had 5.54 million voters. The final list will have around 4.54 million voters, with one million being struck off the list. Details on the number of ineligible voters identified or the number of foreign nationals — another stated goal of the SIR — remain unknown.

During the draft phase of the list, 16.39 million names were deleted on the basis that the voters were dead, while more than seven million were identified as duplicate entries. Another 3.83 lakh names were removed under the ‘Others’ category, which is not the case in many other states that have conducted SIR. Even as the exercise draws to a close, the director-general’s office has not made it clear what the “Others” category includes, other than that it includes those who have refused to sign.

However, the largest category of deletions – 80.62 thousand names – included voters who changed their residence or were not found at their addresses during the enumeration phase. Unlike those who were marked as dead or duplicates, these voters did not necessarily vote. They would have to apply through Form 6 to have their names restored to the list. Yet only 7,87,534 applications for inclusion were received, a figure that includes applications from new voters.

The extent of deletions under the SIR was not offset by additions in any constituency in the state, with requests for inclusion falling far short of the number of names struck from the draft list.

Published – 26 Oct 2026 20:53 IST