The Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Karnataka gathered pace on its second day, with Booth Level Officers (BLOs) distributing nearly 55 lakh Enumeration Forms (EFs) to voters across the state, even as former Chief Minister and BJP MP Basavaraj Bommai urged officials to remain impartial and resist political pressure during the exercise.
According to the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Karnataka, the state has 5,54,32,314 registered electors as of June 16, 2026. As of 6 p.m. on Wednesday, a total of 54,68,607 Enumeration Forms had been distributed, covering 9.87 per cent of the electorate.
The Election Commission also released preliminary field verification data. During the exercise, 2,565 electors were marked under the categories of absent, shifted, dead, duplicate and others (ASDDO), while 21 electors were found to be untraceable or absent. Officials identified 816 permanently shifted electors, 1,383 deceased electors and 327 persons who were already enrolled, while 18 cases fell under other reasons.
The digitisation process also continued, with 2,38,453 Enumeration Forms digitised, accounting for 0.43 per cent of the electorate. In addition, 26,213 electors submitted their Enumeration Forms online, representing 0.05 per cent of the total voters.
To facilitate officials engaged in extensive fieldwork, the Karnataka government has enabled a digital attendance mechanism for personnel deployed in the SIR exercise. Through a July 1 notification, the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (e-Governance) activated the "On Other Duty" (OOD) feature in the Kartavya mobile application, allowing Booth Level Officers and other election personnel to mark attendance digitally while carrying out house-to-house verification.
The Special Intensive Revision will continue until July 29. The draft electoral roll will be published on August 5, followed by a claims and objections period until September 4. The final electoral roll is scheduled for publication on October 7.
On Tuesday, Chief Minister D. K. Shivakumar launched the SIR exercise by filling out his own Enumeration Form at his Sadashivanagar residence and urged all eligible voters to participate, saying voter registration was essential to safeguarding voting rights and accessing government benefits.
The same day, Booker Prize-winning Kannada author Banu Mushtaq described the SIR process as simple and straightforward, saying her experience dispelled fears that the exercise was intended to harass citizens. She also appealed to officials to patiently guide the public through the enumeration process.
Meanwhile, Bommai urged officials involved in the voter verification exercise to function impartially and ensure that no ineligible person is included in the electoral rolls while no eligible voter is excluded.
In a statement, he said reports were circulating alleging that some officials had been instructed to act under pressure from the Karnataka government and the Congress party during the revision process. He said such reports had raised concerns and stressed that the integrity of the electoral process must be protected.
Bommai appealed to all District Election Officers, Deputy Commissioners, election officials, Panchayat Development Officers (PDOs) and Revenue Department officials engaged in the exercise to discharge their responsibilities without political interference. He also urged the Election Commission to issue strict instructions to district vigilance teams to closely monitor the revision process and ensure the electoral rolls are prepared in a fair and transparent manner.
The BJP leader further called on the Election Commission to issue a clear public directive reaffirming that all officials involved in the SIR exercise must function independently. He said maintaining the credibility of the electoral roll revision process was essential to safeguarding democratic rights and ensuring free and fair elections.
The Karnataka BJP had on Tuesday accused the Congress-led state government of creating hurdles in the ongoing SIR exercise.
On the first day of the revision, more than 12.48 lakh Enumeration Forms were distributed, covering 2.25 per cent of the state's electorate. Officials identified 116 permanently shifted electors, 291 deceased electors and 77 individuals already enrolled elsewhere, while two cases were categorised under the "Others" category. A total of 47,817 forms were digitised and 6,840 voters submitted their Enumeration Forms online on the opening day of the exercise.
