Karnataka to Publish Final Electoral Roll Amid Controversy Over 10.8 Million Exclusions

Karnataka’s Special Intensive Revision began on June 30 with door-to-door verification and cross-checking against older records, reducing the electorate from 55.4 million to 44.6 million in the August draft. The draft’s exclusion of more than 10.8 million voters triggered a dispute, with opposition alleging bulk Form 7 applications targeting Muslim-majority areas and the ruling party denying any misconduct. By October 22, voters had lodged 1.04 million Form 6 inclusion requests, 2,28,917 Form 7 deletion or objection filings, and 1.31 million Form 8 correction applications, many submitted after the September 23 deadline.

Hearings continued beyond the claims deadline, and 4.38 million notices were issued to give voters a chance to prove eligibility. The final roll, to be published Tuesday, will show how many excluded names are restored and also reveal a slight gender shift, with about 22.8 million women and 22.5 million men registered.