Shivakumar Urges EC to Extend Notice Window as 1.07 Crore Voter Names Flagged in Revision

Chief Minister D K Shivakumar has written to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar seeking an extension of the claims-and-objections period to three or four weeks, following the publication of draft electoral rolls under Karnataka’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.

The revision has altered the state's electoral rolls, marking more than 1.07 crore names under the categories of absent, shifted, duplicate, dead, and others (ASDDO). This has reduced the electorate to 4.46 crore. Additionally, around 43.81 lakh voters are set to receive notices regarding logical discrepancies or an inability to be mapped to the 2002 voter rolls. Under current rules, voters are given seven days from the generation of a notice to submit their response.

In his representation, Shivakumar called for the deployment of more electoral registration officers and district election officers alongside an extended timeline. He noted that people who had moved were not permitted to complete enumeration forms at their new residences, contributing to the high number of unmapped voters.

ASDDO entries account for 19.48 per cent of the existing electorate. Duplication makes up 1.28 per cent and deaths account for 2.96 per cent, with the remainder comprising individuals marked as permanently shifted, absent, or untraceable. Voters who could not be mapped to the 2002 rolls must produce one of 11 specified documents to establish their eligibility. An RTI response revealed that the Election Commission maintains no documented rationale for selecting the 2002 baseline.

Home Minister Priyank Kharge informed the legislature that the SIR exercise detected no Bangladeshi or other foreign nationals on the state's electoral rolls.

Under current procedures, voters facing rejected claims must file appeals with the District Election Officer and subsequently with the Chief Electoral Officer, creating travel demands for senior citizens, persons with disabilities, and labourers who may need to visit district headquarters or Bengaluru to resolve their status.