Karnataka draft electoral rolls show heavy deletions in Bengaluru seats

The draft electoral rolls for Karnataka have revealed unusually high deletion rates in five constituencies within the core Bengaluru region, with more than half of the entries removed in each. This level of deletion is not observed in other major states, according to data from the draft summary revision of rolls (SIR).

The scale of deletions has drawn attention because of the lack of accompanying transparency measures. The office of the Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer has not made the deletion lists easily accessible to the public. Additionally, gender-wise deletion figures for each constituency have not been published, making it difficult to assess whether the removals disproportionately affect any demographic group.

The deletions are part of the ongoing draft revision process, which is meant to clean up electoral rolls by removing duplicate, shifted, or ineligible entries. However, the concentration of deletions in Bengaluru's core constituencies raises questions about the accuracy of the revision and whether eligible voters may have been incorrectly removed.

Election officials have not yet provided a detailed explanation for the high deletion rates or a timeline for making the full data public. The final publication of the rolls is expected after the completion of the claims and objections period, during which affected voters can seek corrections.