The final electoral list under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) drive has been published in Karnataka, the Chief Electoral Officer's (CEO) office said on Tuesday. The exercise saw the deletion of around 1 crore names from the electoral rolls.
According to final electoral list, the southern state now has 4.55 crore voters, down from 5.54 crore voters before the drive was conducted. Around 99.32 lakh names were deleted in the exercise. Of the 4.55 crore voters, Karnataka has 2.25 crore male and 2.29 crore female electors.
The final electorate also includes more than 6.83 lakh voters who are in the age group of 18 to 19 years, while over 3.92 lakh electors are over 85 years of age.
As the CEO's office published the final electoral list, Chief Minister DK Shivakumar underlined his government would take necessary steps to protect the voters of the southern state. "It is the duty of the Karnataka govt and the party to protect voters," he told reporters in Bengaluru.
The Congress has constantly criticised the SIR, with Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi moving to the Supreme Court, seeking a halt on the nationwide drive and the suspension of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar alleging discrepancies in the drive. Along with him, other INDIA bloc leaders have also moved to the apex court.
Based on his plea, the Supreme Court has issued a notice to the commission's seeking its response on the drive.
On Monday, the poll body filed an affidavit in the apex court and said all decisions regarding the SIR was taken unanimously by all three members of the commission. It also rejected allegations that the Form 6, used for voter registration, had been amended.
In the 248-page counter affidavit, the commission said SIR orders of June 24, 2025, October 27, 2025 and May 14, 2026 were unanimous decisions taken in compliance with Article 324 of the Constitution and Section 18 of the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023.
"The attempt to make aspersions against the Election Commission is unfortunate," the affidavit read.
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