Karnataka SIR: As distribution of census forms enters final phase, political parties take up verification of ‘untraceable’ voters

Booth level officers during the special intensive revision camp 2026 at Vasanth Nagar in Bengaluru on Monday. | Photo credit: ALLEN EGENUSE J.

As Karnataka’s distribution of census forms for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls enters its final phase, the task of verifying voters who could not be counted by the Election Commission has largely shifted to recognized political parties and their booth-level machinery has taken center stage in the revision exercise.

As of Monday, out of 94.23% of the state’s 5.54 million voters, the Election Commission has identified more than 9.37 million voters who were categorized as absent, shifted, dead, duplicate or otherwise untraceable during field verification. The Commission has asked political parties to verify the status of these voters before further action is taken.

List shared with parties

The lists of voters falling under the absent, shifted, dead, duplicate and other (ASDDO) category are shared weekly with recognized political parties including Congress, BJP and JD(S) by the Electoral Registration Officers (ERO).

Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) for Karnataka V. Anbu Kumar said parties are empowered to scrutinize the information collected by booth level officers (BLOs) and report any discrepancies or omissions to the Election Commission.

The political parties in turn activated their Booth Level Agents (BLAs), local leaders and local workers to verify the names on the ASDDO lists. They were asked to visit polling station areas, interact with residents and ensure that voters who were reported as deceased, permanently displaced, absent or untraceable were correctly classified.

Verification has gained importance as records identified in the ASDDO category are kept separate pending review. Election officials said the list of such voters will be further verified before any decision is taken on the voter lists.

Tracking by parties

Party officials said their organizing network across the state has been instructed to closely monitor the revision process and ensure that eligible voters are not wrongfully excluded if inaccurate or duplicate records are identified. The verification process is also being monitored at the state level, they added.

KPCC spokesperson VR Sudarshan said the party has started mobilizing its booth-level network to closely monitor the SIR of the electoral rolls. The BLAs have been instructed to remain vigilant during the revision exercise, verify records at the grassroots level and report any irregularities to the election authorities, he said.

BJP Coordinator SIR S. Dattatri said that no irregularities have been found in the ASDDO list so far.

“Our BLAs have intensified monitoring at the booth level. So far, we have found that the ASDDO classification has been done correctly. However, we will have to wait and see after the exercise is over,” he said.

Election officials said the SIR exercise aims to improve the accuracy of voter rolls by identifying duplicate, deceased, permanently displaced and otherwise ineligible records while ensuring that all eligible voters remain enrolled. They reiterated that any proposed delisting will follow the due process prescribed by election laws, including field verification and opportunity for affected voters to respond whenever needed.

Published – 13 Jul 2026 23:49 IST