Over 1.08 crore voters in Karnataka have been flagged under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, with a significant portion identified as absent, shifted, dead, duplicate, or other (ASDDO) categories. Chief Minister D K Shivakumar has formally requested the Election Commission to extend the claims and objections period, citing concerns about the adequacy of the current window for affected voters to respond and verify their eligibility.
According to The Indian Express, the flagged voters represent nearly one-fifth of Karnataka’s 5.54 crore electorate, with 46.88 lakh in Bengaluru alone. The Chief Minister’s letter to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar emphasised the need for a trustworthy electoral roll and requested more than 45 days for those tagged with “logical discrepancies” to submit documentation and prove their credentials.
As highlighted by The Hindu, the draft rolls published on 24 August 2026 indicate that approximately 43.8 lakh voters will receive notices regarding logical discrepancies or missing links to the 2002 electoral roll. The Chief Minister argued that many voters marked as “Absent” may be genuine electors who were away for work, health, or other reasons during the enumeration process.
In his communication, D K Shivakumar stated, “The objective must be an electoral roll that the people of Karnataka can trust: one in which every eligible citizen is included, every ineligible entry is removed, and no citizen is deprived of the franchise merely for want of adequate time, information or opportunity to establish his or her eligibility.”
Midway through the process, civic engagement intensified as civil society organisations in Bengaluru announced an “Election Commission Chalo” campaign for 1 September to highlight alleged flaws in the SIR exercise. Actor Prakash Raj and advocacy groups have raised concerns about the categorisation process, with some claiming that genuine voters who shifted residences were asked to reapply as new voters instead of updating their existing records.
Calls for procedural improvements have also included requests for at least six weeks to file claims and objections under the ASDDO category, as coverage revealed. Booth Level Officers (BLOs) have reportedly faced significant workloads, and some voters may not have received adequate notice or opportunity to respond due to mobility or other factors.
“Mobility should not translate into disenfranchisement,” Chief Minister D K Shivakumar asserted in his letter, underscoring the need for a fair and inclusive process.
Further, officials were urged to convene Ward Committee meetings in urban areas and Gram Sabhas in rural areas, with advance publicity, to ensure that omissions and errors in the draft rolls are identified and corrected. The Chief Minister also called for an increase in the number of Additional Electoral Registration Officers and District Election Officers in districts with high numbers of flagged cases.
Procedural manuals allow for extensions, and with no major elections imminent in Karnataka, analysis showed that such an extension is feasible. The state government has offered logistical support, including mobilising local administration and conducting publicity campaigns to assist the process.
At the end of the current phase, reporting indicated that the final electoral rolls are expected to be published by 7 October 2026, pending any further extensions or procedural changes by the Election Commission.
Note: This article is produced using AI-assisted tools and is based on publicly available information. It has been reviewed by The Quint's editorial team before publishing.