Karnataka Publishes Final Electoral Roll After SIR, Voter Count Falls to 4.55 Crore

Karnataka’s final electoral roll published on Tuesday recorded 4.55 crore voters, marking a decline of 99.32 lakh electors following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), Chief Electoral Officer V Anbukkumar said.

The state’s electorate fell from 5,54,32,314 before the revision to 4,55,00,011 in the final list. The roll comprises 2,25,83,107 male voters, 2,29,14,063 female voters and 2,841 third-gender electors, according to the CEO’s office.

More than 6.83 lakh voters are aged 18-19, while 3,92,134 electors are aged 85 and above. Karnataka also has 3,252 non-resident Indian voters.

Anbukkumar said the Election Commission’s SIR exercise, conducted between June 30 and October 27, was completed according to schedule. The draft electoral roll was published on August 24, followed by the submission and verification of applications, notices, inquiries and hearings.

Between June 16 and October 26, authorities received approximately 26.23 lakh applications, including 10,62,336 Form 6 applications for inclusion, 4,872 Form 6A applications, 2,29,235 Form 7 applications for deletion and around 13.27 lakh Form 8 applications for corrections and other changes.

Of these, approximately 20.64 lakh applications were accepted, 3.03 lakh rejected and 2.55 lakh remained pending.

The CEO said 1,88,324 electors were deleted from the draft roll following the prescribed process. These included 1,091 deceased voters, 184 absent electors, 762 duplicate or already-enrolled entries and 1,24,327 cases involving shifts of residence. Another 61,960 people were found ineligible after notices and hearings.

Responding to reports about the generation of around 60,000 Form 7 applications, Anbukkumar said there was no provision for bulk generation of such forms. Each deletion, he clarified, required an inquiry and a reasoned order by the competent electoral registration officer.

He urged voters to check their names in the final roll and asked eligible electors missing from the list to submit Form 6 for inclusion.