As Karnataka SIR first phase ends, one crore voters still in ASDDO list

Over One Crore Karnataka Voters Remain in ASDDO Category as SIR Enumeration Concludes

Indiadailyupdate.com – The house-to-house enumeration and submission of Enumeration Forms wrapped up on Monday, bringing Karnataka’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls to its closing stage. The Election Commission had pushed back the original August 8 deadline for form submission by nine days, citing the unusually large volume of electors flagged under the Absent, Shifted, Dead, Duplicate and Other (ASDDO) classification. Even after that extension, more than one crore voters continue to sit in the ASDDO bucket ahead of the draft electoral rolls slated for publication on August 24.

Scale of the Exercise and Coverage

The Office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka, reported a total electorate of 5,54,32,314 as of June 16. Every one of those Enumeration Forms was printed and dispatched to field staff, with the Commission asserting complete coverage during the door-to-door operation that commenced on June 30. By Monday, 4,46,00,369 forms—representing 80.46 per cent of the total—had been digitised for inclusion in the draft roll.

The remaining 1,08,31,945 forms, or 19.54 per cent, carried ASDDO markings. The breakdown is as follows: 15,28,985 voters were flagged as untraceable or absent; 65,61,607 had permanently relocated; 16,38,839 were recorded as deceased; 7,07,792 were found to be already enrolled elsewhere; and 3,94,722 fell under the residual “other” heading.

Regional Disparities

Bengaluru South tops the state in ASDDO concentration at 49.61 per cent of its electorate. At the opposite end, Udupi registers the lowest share, with just 5.96 per cent of its voters flagged in that category.

Applications for Inclusion, Deletion, and Correction

The enumeration window also produced a substantial volume of voter-initiated applications. Between June 16 and August 16, election authorities logged 4,28,679 Form 6 requests for name inclusion, 3,710 Form 6A applications from non-resident Indian voters, 31,554 Form 7 deletion petitions, and 8,68,405 Form 8 requests for correction or shifting. Altogether, 13,32,348 such applications were processed. An additional 7,11,712 Enumeration Forms reached the system through online submission.

The Commission confirmed that adequate stocks of Form 6 and accompanying declaration forms have been printed and routed to Booth Level Officers. Citizens who will reach the age of 18 on or before October 1, 2026, remain eligible to file for inclusion through the same channel.

Prakash Raj Controversy

The SIR exercise in Karnataka drew public attention after actor Prakash Raj claimed his voting rights had been effectively stripped by what he called an impractical verification process. The allegation followed earlier social-media accusations—surfacing around the time of his Karnataka candidature—that he held multiple voter IDs. He rejected the claim, insisting he possesses a single voter ID.

Addressing journalists at a media interaction in Bengaluru the previous week, he remarked:

“Ironically, that too is being snatched.”

He was referring to his name’s absence from the verification workflow. His situation has since become one of the most visible illustrations in the wider debate over voter verification during the SIR cycle.

What Comes Next

With the enumeration phase now shut, attention turns to the scrutiny of digitised records and the compilation of draft electoral rolls. The Election Commission stressed that an ASDDO marking does not equate to automatic removal from the voters list. Electors so flagged may approach election officials carrying the prescribed documentation and complete Form 6 to restore their names to the roll.