Karnataka launches voter roll revision amid Congress objections

BENGALURU The Election direction of bharat testament start a month-long house-to-house verification of Karnataka’s electoral rolls on Tuesday, with election officials asking more than 5.5 crore voters to complete and return enumeration forms even as the Congress insists its concerns over the exercise must first be addressed.Karnataka chief electoral officer V Anbukkumar said the state machinery had completed preparations for the Special Intensive Revision of the 2026 electoral roll, with booth level officers scheduled to visit households from June 30 until July 29. The qualifying date for the revision is October 1, 2026. A draft electoral roll will be published on August 5, followed by claims and objections period until September 4. Notices, where necessary, will be issued and disposed of by October 3 before the final electoral roll is published on October 7.“As far as Karnataka is concerned, the entire machinery is geared up for this exercise. We have deployed 68,123 officials, such as 59,050 booth level officers, 7,556 booth level supervisors and 224 electoral registration officers. All officers, from the chief electoral officer to district level officers, have been trained and are ready to undertake this exercise,” Anbukkumar said.The chief electoral officer said enumeration forms had been printed for more than 5.54 crore voters whose names appeared on the electoral roll as of June 16 and distributed to booth level officers. He requested voters to attach photographs, complete the required details, sign the forms and return them during the house visits.“Our BLOs will begin distributing the forms to all voters whose names appear on the 2026 electoral roll from June 30 to July 29,” he said.Anbukkumar said the electoral roll was frozen on June 16, when Karnataka had 55,432,314 registered electors. According to him, 91.61% of voter mapping has already been completed, with 126 Assembly constituencies crossing 95% mapping and 173 of the state’s 224 constituencies exceeding 90%. The remaining work will continue until the end of July.He said every enumeration form would display the name and mobile number of the assigned booth level officer. Two types of stickers have also been issued: one confirming that a form has been delivered and another, for locked houses, indicating the date of the officer’s next visit. Voter Registration Centres have also been established at the Gram Panchayat level.Anbukkumar said the forms were partially pre filled and would be digitised after voters returned them. He also clarified that booth level officers had been instructed not to collect any documents during the enumeration phase.“Documents may be required only from those who receive a notice after the draft electoral roll is published if there is any discrepancy in their details. In such cases, a notice will specify the discrepancy, the documents required for verification and the time within which a response must be submitted,” he said.Responding to questions about transparency, Anbukkumar said the exercise was being carried out strictly in accordance with the law. On Congress allegations of discrepancies in booth level officer details published on the chief electoral officer’s website, he said, “We have uploaded the information on our website and have already updated it. If there are any mistakes, we will correct them. However, I am confident that we have made every effort to provide accurate information.”Asked about the BJP’s complaint regarding a separate Special Intensive Revision exercise for Greater Bengaluru Authority wards by the State Election Commission, Anbukkumar said, “I can comment only on the SIR being conducted by the Election Commission of India. I cannot comment on any exercise being carried out by the State Election Commission.”Earlier on Monday, Karnataka home minister Priyank Kharge said the Election Commission should respond to questions submitted by the Congress before proceeding with the revision exercise. He said the party had sent written objections to the chief election commissioner identifying eight to ten concerns and that the state government would consult chief minister DK Shivakumar before deciding its next course of action.“The Election Commission should first answer the questions raised by Congress regarding the SIR exercise. Only after addressing those concerns should it proceed with the revision of the electoral rolls in Karnataka,” Kharge said.Kharge said Congress wanted clarification on how the Election Commission defines “logical discrepancy”, the grounds for removing a voter from the electoral roll and the procedures that would be followed before any deletion. He said legal notices should be issued, speaking orders passed and affected voters given an opportunity to seek relief before the appropriate tribunal.“So far, the Election Commission has not provided any clarification. We submitted our concerns in writing not only to the Election Commission of India but also to the State Election Commission. We are yet to receive any response,” he said.Kharge said Congress supports routine electoral roll revision as part of the Election Commission’s constitutional responsibility but raised concerns over similar exercises conducted in other states. He also sought details on the reported use of artificial intelligence during the revision process, including how the software operates and whether it had been independently audited.