More than one crore names have been excluded from Karnataka’s electoral roll following an intensive voter-verification exercise, according to the final list published on Tuesday. The revised roll contains 4.54 crore electors, including over 6.83 lakh voters aged 18–19.
BY PC Bureau
BENGALURU: Karnataka’s final electoral roll, published on Tuesday following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), has excluded more than 1.08 crore names, reducing the state’s electorate from 5.54 crore to 4.54 crore.
According to the Chief Electoral Officer’s office, a total of 1,08,76,625 enumeration forms were excluded during the revision. In a separate exercise, 61,867 electors were declared ineligible after notices were issued and hearings conducted.
The final electoral roll contains 4,54,55,689 electors, including 2,25,40,493 men, 2,29,12,355 women and 2,841 third-gender voters. More than 6.83 lakh electors belong to the 18–19 age group.
The SIR exercise began on June 30 and marked Karnataka’s first such intensive revision since 2002. Booth Level Officers (BLOs) visited households to distribute, collect and verify enumeration forms for the state’s 5.54 crore registered electors.
Of the total electorate before the revision, 4,46,35,975 electors submitted signed enumeration forms and were included in the draft roll published on August 24.
READ: SP Candidates Lead in PM Modi’s Varanasi Constituency in MLC Polls; Mixed Trends in Bihar
The remaining names were flagged during the enumeration process, primarily because voters had permanently shifted, were unavailable at their registered addresses, had died or were already enrolled elsewhere.
According to the figures released for the draft stage, 1,07,96,339 voters, or 19.48% of the pre-revision electorate, had not been enumerated. These included 65,45,679 voters classified as permanently shifted, 19,00,926 marked absent, 16,39,864 reported deceased and 7,09,870 identified as already enrolled elsewhere or as duplicates.
The Election Commission subsequently issued 43,82,824 notices to electors whose eligibility or particulars required verification. Hearings were conducted in these cases, and the process concluded on October 22. Following the proceedings, another 61,867 electors were declared ineligible.
SIR process completed in Karnataka. Nearly one crore voters removed.
Karnataka’s now has 4,55,00,011 voters a net reduction of 99.32 lakh compared with the 5,54,32,314 voters registered before SIR. https://t.co/mvHvx01IdO
— Deepak Bopanna (@dpkBopanna) October 27, 2026
The claims and objections period, which ran from August 24 to September 23, resulted in further changes to the electoral roll. During this period, 10,08,038 names were added, 1,88,324 were deleted and 8,96,519 entries were corrected.
Of the additions, 8,77,104 were made through Form 6, used for new voter registrations; 2,312 through Form 6A; and 1,28,622 through Form 8, primarily for changes relating to shifting and other corrections.
The deletions included 1,24,327 voters categorised as permanently shifted, 61,960 placed in the “Others” category, 1,091 deceased electors, 762 duplicate entries and 184 voters recorded as absent. The “Others” category included cases found ineligible during hearings.
The sharp reduction in Karnataka’s electorate follows a verification exercise intended to update voter records and identify entries requiring removal or correction. The figures, however, reflect several distinct stages of the revision, including non-enumeration, subsequent eligibility hearings and the claims-and-objections process.
Voters can check their names in the final electoral roll through the Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka’s official website.
