Bengaluru, Oct 27 (PTI) The EC on Tuesday published the final electoral roll in Karnataka, deleting nearly one crore names in the wake of the SIR process, and ruled out the possibility of officials mass generating the form related to deletion of names.
In the final roll, the southern state has 4.55 crore voters, Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) V Anbukkumar told reporters here.
The number of voters declined by 99.32 lakh following the publication of the final rolls.
Prior to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, an exercise strongly opposed by the Congress and other political parties in the country, Karnataka had 5,54,32,314 voters.
Following the final roll, the number stands at 4,55,00,011.
According to the CEO’s office, the final rolls comprise 2,25,83,107 male voters, 2,29,14,063 female voters and 2,841 third gender electors.
Over 6.83 lakh voters are in the 18-19 age group, while a little over 3.92 lakh are aged 85 and above. There are 3,252 NRI voters as well, it said.
Addressing a press conference here, Anbukkumar said the Election Commission had announced that the SIR exercise in Karnataka would be conducted from June 30 to October 27. The process had been carried out according to the announced schedule, and the draft electoral roll was published on August 24.
“Subsequently, several people submitted applications. After issuing notices, conducting inquiries and completing the hearings, we have published the final electoral roll today,” he said.
He recalled that when the draft roll was published, the number of electors stood at 4.46 crore.
Following a special drive, eligible voters were urged to submit Form 6 for inclusion of their names, Form 7 for deletion and Form 8 for corrections or other changes.
He said that between June 16 and October 26, the authorities received about 10.62 lakh Form 6 applications, 4,872 Form 6A applications, 2.29 lakh Form 7 applications and nearly 13.27 lakh Form 8 applications, taking the total number of applications received to approximately 26.23 lakh.
Except for around 4,000 applications submitted offline, the rest were filed online.
The CEO pointed out that of the 26.23 lakh applications, around 3.03 lakh were rejected and 20.64 lakh accepted. Around 2.55 lakh remain pending.
“Following publication of the draft roll, 8,77,104 electors were included through Form 6 in the final roll. Another 2,312 were added through Form 6A. Through Form 8 applications involving the shifting of residence, 1,28,622 electors were added to their new constituencies.”
“The total additions under these categories were stated as 10,08,038,” Anbukkumar said.
He clarified that when an elector shifts from one place to another, the name is removed from the previous location and included at the new one, subject to the prescribed procedure.
The CEO said that upon completion of the prescribed process for the verification and disposal of claims and objections, as well as the disposal of notices, 10.08 lakh electors were added, 1,88,324 deleted and 8.96 lakh modifications made to the draft electoral roll in accordance with the applicable provisions of law and the instructions of the Election Commission of India.
According to the breakdown of the deletions made in the draft roll, about 1.24 lakh were related to shifting of residence, resulting in the automatic generation of Form 7. The rest comprised deceased, absent and those already enrolled or with duplicate entries.
Approximately 61,960 people were found ineligible after notices and hearings.
“We issued notices to approximately 43.8 lakh electors and conducted hearings. During these proceedings, electoral registration officers (EROs) and assistant electoral registration officers (AEROs) found certain individuals ineligible. Following the prescribed inquiry and the issuance of reasoned orders, 61,960 names were identified for deletion,” he said.
Referring to certain media reports that officials had generated around 60,000 Form 7 applications to delete voters, the CEO clarified that there was no provision for the bulk generation of Form 7.
“Every such form must be generated in the name of the competent officer after the prescribed inquiry and the passing of a speaking order.”
“For example, if an ERO conducts a hearing and determines that a person is ineligible, the form is generated in the ERO’s name. If an AERO conducts the proceeding, it is generated in that officer’s name,” he explained.
The CEO appealed to all voters in Karnataka to verify their details if their names appeared in the final electoral roll.
“If any eligible voter has not yet been included, I request them to submit Form 6,” he said.
He said the ratio of electors to the total population of Karnataka now stood at 66.11 as per the final electoral roll. PTI AMP KSU SA
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