Massive Voter Deletions in Telangana, Karnataka Raise Disenfranchisement Concerns

The Election Commission of India's (ECI) Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has resulted in the removal of a significant number of voters in Telangana and Karnataka. The process has struck off nearly 22% of names in Telangana and 19.5% in Karnataka, among the highest deletion rates in the country.

The impact is most pronounced in the capital cities. In Bengaluru, five constituencies have lost more than half of their electors. In Hyderabad, nine of its 15 constituencies have seen deletions exceeding 40%.

The scale of these cuts raises fundamental questions. If the deletions are accurate, it suggests that the ECI's own recent summary revision processes had produced bloated rolls, particularly in areas with high net in-migration. Conversely, if the deletions are justified, those removed must have physically left the states, as an internal move would only relocate a voter's name on the same state roll. Neither scenario is supported by recent survey data or the government's own population estimates.

The process places the onus on electors to prove their eligibility, which may explain the scale of the cuts. Voter IDs are used infrequently, leading to less vigilance among citizens. The ECI's opacity makes it difficult to verify the data, as it has not published the mandatory elector-to-population ratio for any state during this revision. In Karnataka, the Chief Electoral Officer has not released a gender-wise breakdown of deletions, and the lists have been scattered across Google Drive links without old booth numbers, making verification difficult.

The consequences of such processes are already visible in West Bengal, where a similar 'logical discrepancy' process disenfranchised lakhs of electors. Records obtained under a Right to Information request show that of nearly 38 lakh appeals before 19 tribunals, barely 82,000 have been decided, with over 90% of those decisions favouring electors seeking restoration. The ECI, once admired for bringing large numbers of Indians to the polling booth, now appears to be an obstacle to universal adult franchise.