2 weeks ago
Karnataka's extended voter roll revision rescues lakhs from wrongful deletion
Elections need lists of the people who can vote, called voter rolls.
Before an election, officials check these lists to remove people who have moved away or passed away.
This checking process is called a revision, and this one has a long name: Special Intensive Revision, or SIR.
In Karnataka, the Election Commission of India extended the time for this revision.
During the extension, officials discovered that many people had been wrongly marked as 'absent' or 'shifted.'
Some voters were even wrongly marked for deletion even though they still live in the state.
Because of the extra time, more than two lakh names were saved from being wrongly removed from the list.
Also, 4.08 lakh voters applied to be added to the list.
The revision helps make sure that everyone who is eligible gets to vote.
Karnataka's extended Special Intensive Revision (SIR) enumeration phase reduced ASDDO voters from 1.11 crore on August 5 to 1.08 crore as of Wednesday.
A total of 2,41,082 names were removed from the ASDDO lists during the extension.
85,267 voters wrongly classified as 'absent' and 95,037 classified as 'shifted' had their errors rectified.
80,492 voters in the 'other' category, including those who refused to sign the enumeration form, were removed from ASDDO lists.
Since the SIR began, 4.08 lakh voters have applied for inclusion in the voter roll, while 'dead' classifications rose by 6,796 and 'duplicate' by 12,918.
- Who
- The Election Commission of India and Karnataka's chief electoral officer, who oversee the state's electoral rolls
- What
- An extended Special Intensive Revision (SIR) enumeration phase that corrected wrongful voter classifications and reduced the state's ASDDO list
- Where
- Karnataka, India
- When
- During the extended SIR phase in August 2026, comparing August 5 figures to data released as of Wednesday
- Why
- To correct errors and prevent eligible voters from being wrongly deleted from the electoral rolls
Key facts
- State
- Karnataka
- Overseeing body
- Election Commission of India
- ASDDO voters on August 5
- 1.11 crore
- ASDDO voters as of Wednesday
- 1.08 crore
- Names removed from ASDDO lists
- 2,41,082
- Wrongly classified as 'absent'
- 85,267
- Wrongly classified as 'shifted'
- 95,037
- Voter inclusion applications since SIR began
- 4.08 lakh









