Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Karnataka to begin from June 20; over 5.55 crore voters to be covered

As per the schedule released by the ECI, house-to-house visits by BLOs in Karnataka will then be conducted from June 30 to July 29. | Photo Credit: ANI Karnataka will begin the next phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls from June 20, with more than 5.55 crore electors set to be covered. The exercise will be done through a month-long house-to-house verification exercise by Booth Level Officers (BLOs) from June 30, according to the Election Commission of India (ECI).The State has been included in Phase III of the nationwide revision programme, which is aimed at updating electoral rolls ahead of future elections and ensuring accuracy of voter records.V Anbu Kumar, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) for Karnataka, told The Hindu that 86% of mapping has been completed so far and the remaining will be completed before the SIR exercise begins.As per the schedule released by the ECI, preparatory work, training and printing of materials for Karnataka will be taken up between June 20 and June 29. House-to-house visits by BLOs will then be conducted from June 30 to July 29. Rationalisation of polling stations is to be completed by July 29.Draft rolls on August 5The draft electoral roll for Karnataka will be published on August 5. Claims and objections can be filed from August 5 to September 4, while disposal of claims and objections will continue till October 3. The final electoral roll is scheduled to be published on October 7.Official figures show Karnataka has 5,55,74,064 electors as of May 12, making it one of the larger States in the Phase III exercise. To carry out the revision, 59,050 Booth Level Officers have been assigned in the State, while political parties have so far appointed 25,284 Booth Level Agents (BLAs).Door-to-door verificationElection officials said the exercise would involve door-to-door verification of electors, identification of duplicate or shifted entries, addition of eligible new voters, and correction of errors in existing records.The ECI has described the revision as a participative process involving voters, political parties and election officials. It has urged political parties to appoint Booth Level Agents for every polling booth to ensure transparency and wider participation during enumeration.Karnataka is grouped with Meghalaya, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Delhi in this round of revision, all of which share an October 1 qualifying date for the updated rolls.The nationwide Phase III programme covers 16 States and three Union Territories, involving 3.94 lakh BLOs who will reach 36.73 crore electors across the country. With this phase, the revision process will cover nearly the entire country, except Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, where schedules will be announced later after Census-related work and weather considerations.Officials in Karnataka are expected to issue district-level instructions shortly, asking voters to cooperate with BLOs during house visits and verify details such as name, age, address and polling station particulars. Published - May 14, 2026 05:01 pm IST