No voting unless you submit enumeration form, says Karnataka official

Clarifying that there will be no extension of the deadline (July 29) for submission of completed census forms, Dharwad District Election Officer and Deputy Commissioner Snehal R. said that as per the Election Commission of India (ECI) guidelines, the names of those voters who do not submit the forms will not appear in the draft electoral rolls.

Addressing reporters in Dharwad on July 13, Ms. Snehal said that as the deadline was a fortnight away, the district administration had intensified the distribution and collection of enumeration forms (EF) under Special Intensive Revision (SIR).

“Door-to-door verification by stall level workers (BLOs) started on June 30. The deadline for submission of filled forms is July 29. The deadline will not be extended as per ECI,” she said.

The draft voter list is scheduled to be published on August 5.

The representative of the commissioner said that after the publication of the draft voter list, voters who have mistakenly entered incorrect information in the enumeration form will be given an opportunity to correct the mistakes.

Voters will have time from August 5 to September 4 to correct errors and file objections. Handling of objections will take place from August 5 to October 3. The final list of voters will be published on October 7.

Ms. Snehal further clarified that no new persons will be enrolled in the electoral roll till the completion of the SIR process.

96.69% coverage in Dharwad district

The Deputy Commissioner said that so far BLOs (Block Level Officers) in the district have distributed 15,19,544 census forms out of a total of 16,21,961 voters, achieving 96.69% coverage. The administration plans to complete 100% distribution of enumeration forms in the next two days and has already digitized 20.58% of the submitted forms.

20,499 voters untraceable

When asked, she said that 20,499 voters were not found at their registered BLO addresses during door-to-door visits. They were believed to have moved on.

Hubballi Dharwad East Assembly constituency has the highest number (16,001) of such voters, followed by Hubballi-Dharwad West (3,359) and Hubballi-Dharwad Central (1,067).

In addition, 7,242 voters were identified as deceased and 27,594 voters as permanently relocated. Hubballi-Dharwad West accounts for 15,057 permanently switched voters, while Hubballi-Dharwad Central constituency has 11,346 such voters.

She clarified that if such voters do not visit their respective polling stations and submit valid documents to support their claim, their names will not be included in the draft voter list.

To another query, she said that 452 Voter Facilitation Centers have been set up across the district to help voters who were facing difficulties in filling the forms. Voters could use the help of BLOs to fill in the forms.

Published – 14 Jul 2026 10:18 IST