Karnataka SIR: 91% Electors Mapped, Yet Over One Crore Deleted From Draft Rolls

Karnataka's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise has produced a puzzling discrepancy: while 91.30% of electors, including progeny, were mapped according to official data, deletions after the draft rolls were published surpassed 1.07 crore, or more than 19% of the pre-revision electorate.

Before the draft rolls were released, the State had 5.54 crore voters. Of these, 5.06 crore were mapped, leaving 48.21 lakh electors unmapped. Yet the number of deletions exceeded one crore, leaving it unclear who the remaining mapped voters were who still faced removal.

Officials offered differing explanations, but none aligned with the official figures. Booth Level Officers (BLOs) and other officials in Bengaluru said voters who could not be mapped were issued notices under 'no mapping'. However, only 23.45 lakh such notices were generated, even though the pre-enumeration mapping exercise had identified nearly twice that number—48.21 lakh—as unmapped. The shortfall raises questions about whether the pre-enumeration mapping data or the enumeration form details submitted by people were used to issue notices. Civil society groups have repeatedly asked why mapping was conducted at all if enumeration form details were the basis for notices, and why individuals who filled the forms correctly were still flagged.

Officials argued that deletions under Absent, Shifted, Duplicate, Dead and Others (ASDDO) have no connection to mapping, describing mapping as merely a data-collection step to ease enumeration. They attributed deletions to cases where forms were not submitted back. However, among the ASDDO deletions, more than 15 lakh marked as 'absent' occurred simply because the person was not present when the enumeration form was handed over, despite still residing at the same place. No explanation has been provided for why deletion occurred when mapping details were already available, given that mapping largely mirrored the enumeration process by linking individuals to self or progeny with the 2002 rolls.

BLOs further contended that the 91% figure reflects only the coverage of the mapping exercise, not its success. Yet official figures on how many electors were successfully mapped versus those who could not be mapped have not been released.

The discrepancy is stark at the district level. Kodagu consistently reported the highest mapping percentage, with 98.67% completed as of mid-June, leaving only 1.33% of the electorate outside the exercise. However, the district recorded more than 13% deletions. Before deletions, 4.68 lakh electors were on the list, while 4.62 lakh, including progeny, were said to be mapped, leaving only 6,230 names outside mapping. Even setting aside ASDDO deletions, as officials argue they are unrelated, and considering only 'no mapping' notices, the number exceeds 23,000, while overall notices in the district crossed 58,890.

Despite the official figure suggesting the highest mapping percentage in Kodagu, BLOs had consistently flagged the area as one of the most difficult to map due to the mobility of its tribal population. Many workers move within the district depending on the plantation season, and in villages such as Kedamullur in Virajpet taluk, BLOs said not a single elector could be mapped.

The trend repeats across districts, with no clarity on how a large number of electors initially mapped to the 2002 rolls but failed to do so in the enumeration forms.