Civic Groups Seek Urgent Action Over Voter Deletions in Karnataka
Eddelu Karnataka and other organizations urge the government to extend the SIR process and protect eligible voters from wrongful deletion.
Civic organizations have urged the Karnataka government to take immediate steps to prevent eligible voters from being removed from the electoral rolls during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of voter lists.
Representatives of Eddelu Karnataka and other groups, led by multilingual actor Prakash Raj, met Chief Minister DK Shivakumar at Vidhana Soudha on Monday. They discussed concerns surrounding the SIR process and submitted a petition seeking corrective measures.
The representatives claimed that Karnataka is seeing a significant number of voter deletions. They said around 1.09 crore voters are currently included in the AS DDO list and expressed concern that many names could eventually be removed from the electoral rolls, particularly in Bengaluru.
According to the groups, more than 60 percent of voters have been marked for deletion or verification at around 3,000 polling booths across the state. They said the situation could prevent genuine voters from exercising their constitutional right to vote.
The organizations called on the state government to request the Election Commission to extend the SIR process by at least three months. They also recommended giving the authorities a full year to complete the exercise properly.
They further urged Booth Level Officers to conduct door to door verification before removing voters listed under categories such as Shifted, Absent and Others. They said voters who have moved should be given the required forms to transfer their registration, while eligible new voters should be allowed to enroll.
The groups also asked the state government to take an active role in protecting the names of eligible voters. They suggested that government officials visit households to explain the verification process and establish helpline centers to assist citizens.
The organizations said that if the Election Commission does not respond to their demands, the Karnataka government should raise the matter in the Legislative Assembly and take appropriate steps to protect voters.
They also urged the government to put pressure on the Central Election Commission and, if necessary, approach the Supreme Court to safeguard the interests of Karnataka voters.