SIR: Karnataka final roll shows nearly 1 crore fewer electors
Bengaluru, Oct 27 (UNI) Karnataka's final electoral roll has recorded 4.55 crore electors, nearly 99.32 lakh fewer than the 5.54 crore recorded before the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), even as the Election Commission said 61,960 Form 7 forms were generated by authorised officials following hearings in cases where electors were found ineligible.
The final electoral roll, published on Tuesday, comprises 4,54,55,689 general electors and 44,322 service electors, taking the total electorate to 4,55,00,011, according to figures presented by the state election authorities. In a much-awaited press conference, Chief Electoral Officer V Anbukkumar clarified that the 61,960 Form 7 forms were generated by Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and other authorised officials after hearings and the issuance of speaking orders. He denied that the forms had been generated in bulk, saying the process followed scrutiny of individual cases.
The clarification assumes significance amid questions over the generation of Form 7 applications, which are used to seek deletion of names from electoral rolls. The CEO said there was no provision for bulk generation of such forms and that the officials concerned had generated them in cases where electors were found ineligible after the prescribed procedure. The Commission said it had issued notices to approximately 43.82 lakh electors during the revision process. The hearings were intended to examine discrepancies and establish the eligibility of electors before the final roll was published.
The final roll follows the publication of the draft electoral roll on August 24. At that stage, Karnataka had 4,46,80,150 electors, compared with the 5,54,32,314 recorded before the revision, as cited during the briefing. The final electorate stands at 4,55,00,011. The figures indicate that the electorate declined substantially during the initial revision exercise before recovering through subsequent additions.
The authorities, however, did not provide a consolidated category-wise reconciliation during the briefing to explain the entire net reduction of 99.32 lakh electors. Between June 16 and October 26, the Commission received 26,23,875 applications under Forms 6, 6A, 7 and 8. These included 10,62,336 Form 6 applications for inclusion, 4,872 Form 6A applications, 2,29,235 Form 7 applications seeking deletion and 13,27,432 Form 8 applications for corrections and other changes. Of the total applications received, 20.64 lakh had been accepted, 3.03 lakh rejected and 2.55 lakh remained pending, according to the figures announced at the press conference.
The CEO said more than 99 per cent of the applications had been submitted online, crediting the response to voter awareness efforts and a special drive conducted during the revision period. The authorities reported 1,88,324 deletions from the draft roll during the subsequent process. These included 1,24,327 cases involving shifting of residence, 61,960 cases in which electors were found ineligible after hearings, and smaller numbers involving deaths, absence and duplicate enrolment.
The breakdown presented by the CEO included 1,091 deletions on account of deaths, 184 cases classified as absent and 762 duplicate enrolments. The remaining major categories involved shifting and cases found ineligible during hearings. The CEO explained that when an elector shifts residence and applies through Form 8, the name is transferred to the new constituency and removed from the previous one. Such cases, he said, should be distinguished from deletions following hearings into eligibility. He added that the 61,960 cases were processed by the competent officials after notices and hearings, with speaking orders issued before the names were removed from the roll.
The final roll comprises 2,25,83,107 male electors, 2,29,14,063 female electors and 2,741 third-gender electors. There are 6,83,364 young electors in the 18-19 age group and 86,56,838 in the 20-29 age group. The roll also includes 5,65,340 electors with disabilities, 3,92,134 voters aged above 85 and 3,252 overseas electors, according to the figures presented. The CEO thanked registered political parties, their booth-level agents, civil society organisations, election officials and the media for their participation in the revision exercise. He said around 1.35 lakh Booth Level Agents had been involved in field-level work. Appealing to eligible citizens whose names were missing from the final roll, he urged them to apply through Form 6 after verification of their eligibility. He also called on young citizens who had turned 18 to enrol as voters. The Commission said district-wise and Assembly constituency-wise details were available in the final electoral roll booklet and would be made accessible through its website.
UNI BDN
