BENGALURU: The Election Commission of India has issued orders to all Chief Electoral Officers (CEO) in the states where the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise is going on to conduct a special enrolment drive after the exercise is over. This exercise will start in Karnataka after October 27, 2026 when the final electoral roll will be published after the SIR.
The orders were issued on Thursday and made public on Friday, a day after opposition parties in different parts of the country and the ruling Congress in Karnataka protested, opposing the SIR exercise and alleged deletion of names. Along with the orders, ECI issued a detailed questionnaire, answering multiple questions including the functioning of ECI app, ‘vote chori’ and method of SIR operation.
Officials at the office of the Chief Electoral Officer Karnataka said the communication has just come in, and it will be looked into. They said that to ensure the enrolment of electors, special campaigns were held. While conducting the house-to-house survey, in the first phase of SIR, Form-6 (for inclusion), Form-7 (for deletion) and Form-8 (for correction) were distributed. Citizens are also being encouraged to fill the forms online, they said.
Data reveals 15,17,042 voters listed as permanently shifted, 65,45,679 as dead
ECI, in its orders, directed CEOs, District Election Officers (DEOs) and Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) to ensure Booth Level Officers (BLOs) compare the current electoral roll with the pre-SIR roll, identify the names of those not included in the present rolls and prepare a list. In the list, BLOs will indicate the present status of the electors.
ECI also asked BLOs to visit the houses of such electors, ascertain their present status and facilitate enrolment through Form-6. The officials said that each BLO can visit at least 20-25 electors a week and complete the exercise within a month. During the exercise, BLOs will also enroll first-time voters.
Election officials stated that the list prepared by BLOs will be shared with Booth Level Agents (BLAs), appointed by recognised political parties. The list with the filled Form-6 applications will also be given to EROs for field verification and inclusion. At the end of the exercise, a booth- wise list will be shared with BLAs to verify if any elector has been left out.
Election officials said directions have been issued to DEOs and EROs to verify the deletions and act against those submitting false declarations pertaining to Forms 6, 7 and 8 and against those involved in bulk deletions.
“The information pertaining to bulk deletions is being verified as it is from 4.46 crore enrolled voters. Those deleted from ASDDO list are out and the deletion of names of those already in the rolls is being looked into,” the official said, adding that as directed by ECI, the progress of the entire drive will also be closely monitored by the CEO and DEO. Special booth-level camps will be organised to facilitate submission of application for enrolment, particularly for those living in night shelters, labour colonies, homeless and those marginalised persons.
According to CEO office data, the total electors till June 16, 2026 in Karnataka were 5,54,32,314. After the draft electoral roll was published as part of SIR, as on August 24, 2026 there were 4,46,80,151 electors, of whom 2,23,18,784 were male and 2,26,60,092 female.
A total of 1,07,96,339 were removed as they were listed under Absent, Shifted, Dead, Duplicate and Others (not wanting to sign the forms) category. The data also showed 1,07,96,339 (19.48%) were listed as Absent -- voters not found at the residential address mentioned with the CEO Karnataka data. Also, 15,17,042 (2.74%) were listed as permanently shifted, 65,45,679 (11.81%) dead, 7,09,870 (1.28%) duplicate and 3,83,884 (0.69%) as others.