Karnataka Election Commission to Issue 43.8 Lakh Voter Notices in SIR Phase

New Delhi, India Aug 21, 2026 ALN: The Karnataka Election Commission is preparing to issue notices to a staggering 43.8 lakh voters during the upcoming phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Notably, Bengaluru will see over half of these notices, with 24.05 lakh voters across its four electoral districts slated to receive them.

Among the recipients, approximately 20.35 lakh voters have been flagged for logical discrepancies in their enumeration forms. Additionally, 23.45 lakh voters have been unable to provide mapping details from the 2002 electoral roll.

The notices will be dispatched following the publication of draft electoral rolls on August 24. The period for claims and objections will be open until September 23, with the disposal of these claims continuing until October 22.

The Chief Electoral Officer's office has identified nine categories of logical discrepancies. These include:

• Implausible age gaps between parents and children
• Discrepancies in fathers’ names
• Differences between current and previous electoral records
• Age gaps between siblings
• Unusually high numbers of children linked to a parent
• Discrepancies in voters’ own names across rolls

A voter may also be flagged if a parent linked to their record is marked invalid in the current electoral roll. In such cases, all progeny records mapped to that parent’s previous SIR record will also be treated as anomalous.

The “no mapping” category pertains to voters who could not provide details from the 2002 SIR or could not establish their linkage to voters included in that exercise.

Notices will be served through Booth Level Officers starting August 31. Each notice will specify the date, time, and location where the voter must appear for verification.

Voters will need to present documents proving their identity, citizenship, and residency. Two documents, apart from Aadhaar, will be required depending on the nature of the discrepancy.

Each notice will also include a scanner feature allowing voters to upload necessary forms online. However, voters must still appear in person with physical copies of their documents for verification.

Officials have indicated that voters will receive two notices. Failure to respond could result in removal from the electoral roll, necessitating the submission of Form 6 for re-inclusion.

The verification process will involve taking photographs when notices are served, when voters appear before the Electoral Registration Officer, and when documents are submitted.

The CEO’s office has stated that the process will be documented through the BLO application, requiring voters to sign attendance and documentation registers.

As per Election Commission directives, one officer will handle a maximum of 150 notices per day. All documents submitted under the no-mapping category will be verified by the District Election Officer.

Mandya has recorded 1.30 lakh logical discrepancies, the highest outside Bengaluru, followed by Kolar, Dakshina Kannada, and Chikkamagaluru. BBMP South has recorded 1.12 lakh discrepancies.

Bengaluru’s four electoral districts account for 6.24 lakh of the 20.35 lakh voters flagged for anomalies, and 17.81 lakh of the 23.45 lakh voters in the no-mapping category.

In BBMP North, 6.13 lakh of the 12.8 lakh voters included in the draft roll are expected to receive notices, accounting for 47.89% of voters in the draft roll.

In BBMP Central, 4.29 lakh of 10.29 lakh voters are expected to receive notices, accounting for 41.72%. The corresponding figures are 41.07% for Bengaluru Urban and 38.43% for BBMP South.

Among Bengaluru’s 28 Assembly constituencies, CV Raman Nagar, at 60.34%, has the highest proportion of voters expected to receive notices, followed by KR Puram at 58.61%, Bengaluru South at 54.57%, and Shantinagar at 53.14%.

Govindarajanagar has the lowest proportion, with 29.17% of voters in the draft roll expected to receive notices.

The issuance of these notices follows the CEO’s office mapping 5.54 crore voters during the SIR exercise. Of these, 1.07 crore were categorized as Absent, Shifted, Dead, Duplicate, and Other (ASDDO) and will not be included in the draft roll.

Of the remaining 4.46 crore voters, 20.35 lakh have been classified under anomalies and 23.45 lakh under no mapping.

The scale of the notices is particularly significant in Bengaluru, where 49.42 lakh of the 1.03 crore voters mapped during the exercise were flagged under the ASDDO category.

The CEO’s office has indicated that additional Assistant Electoral Registration Officers have been trained for this exercise. They will visit the homes of voters who receive notices and assist with verification and document-related queries.

The number of polling stations in Karnataka has also increased from 59,050 to 60,925, following the merging of 15 stations and the addition of 1,826 new stations.

Karnataka has recorded the lowest number of notices among the states where the SIR exercise is underway. Election Commission data indicates 3.26 crore notices in Uttar Pradesh, 1.64 crore in Tamil Nadu, 1.51 crore in West Bengal, 1.11 crore in Gujarat, 1.01 crore in Madhya Pradesh, and 58.36 lakh in Odisha.