BENGALURU: Administrative hurdles in the electoral registration process have left several eligible citizens without voting rights after returning to Bengaluru from other cities. Delays in updating electoral rolls, deletion of names from previous constituencies, and procedural complexities have made re-enrolment difficult despite fulfilment of the prescribed requirements.
One such situation happened to a resident of Rajajinagar, Ms Shantha. During the 1980s, she voted there until her family shifted to Kalyan Nagar in 1997. From 2000 onwards, she spent several years with her children in Delhi, where she obtained a Delhi voter identity card and voted in every election until 2024. Consequently, her name was deleted from the Bengaluru electoral rolls. Now, despite having returned to Bengaluru for good in January, she finds herself without a vote in either city.
Her family said her name is missing from both the Delhi and Bengaluru 2002 electoral rolls. The family has submitted a formal representation to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), the District Electoral Officer, Bengaluru North, and the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO), seeking access to the enumeration form for the restoration of her voting rights.
The case has acquired added poignancy because Shantha is no ordinary voter. She is among the first batch of MA (History) graduates from Bangalore University (1965-67), the widow of late Shantaram N,A Karnataka Administrative Service officer, and receives a State Government family pension. Her husband was the Returning Officer-in-charge for the Chikmagalur by-election in 1978, which Mrs Indira Gandhi contested.
According to the family, as nobody visited their house for any administrative purpose, they contacted the Kalyan Nagar BLOs. They allegedly told her that they had received only pre-filled forms for distribution, only to those who are registered as voters in the area. So, they advised her to go back to Delhi and look for the enumeration forms with the local BLOs.
“This will cost us close to a lakh of rupees to fly down and stay in a hotel because we do not have a house there anymore, and train tickets are not available at such short notice,” the family said.
The family further alleged that the voter facilitation centre at OMBR Layout also did not give the requisite enumeration form. Instead, she was reportedly advised to wait until August 18 to submit a fresh application as a new voter.
After TNIE intervened and informed the CEO, the CEO’s office acted on the representation and contacted Shantha recently. She was advised to submit Form 6 through the online portal, seeking enrolment as a fresh voter in Bengaluru.
The episode has raised fresh concerns over the difficulties faced by elderly citizens, with critics arguing that procedural gaps and the non-availability of the enumeration forms risk denying genuine voters their constitutional right to participate in elections.
100% Enumeration forms distributed: CEO
Bengaluru: The office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Karnataka, on Thursday announced that it had reached 100% distribution of enumeration forms for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. The CEO office said the exercise of house-to-house distribution of forms had started from June 30 and will end on August 8, 2026. The forms will also be digitised and uploaded by the Booth Level Officers (BLOs).
There are 5,54,32,314 electors in Karnataka and forms have been distributed to all of them. Also, so far, 38,533,562 (69.51%) forms have been digitised. The release from the CEO office added that, in 17 polling stations, there has been 100% digitisation of forms, and in 13,046 polling stations, 90% digitisation has been done. A total of 6,07,890 (1.10%). Also, 52,97,197 (9.56%) electors have been listed under the Absent, Shifted, Dead, Duplicate and Others (ASDDO) category.
