Bengaluru electoral revision flags half of electors as absent, shifted, or duplicate

Data from the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bengaluru has thrown up a striking pattern. In three Lok Sabha constituencies under Bengaluru Urban limits, the number of electors placed under the Absent, Shifted, Duplicate, Dead and Others (ASDDO) category is now nearly as large as the number of votes cast in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

The most significant discrepancy is in the Bengaluru South constituency. In the 2024 general election, 53.34% of the electorate voted, with over 12.49 lakh votes cast. However, under the current revision, 50.5% of the present electorate—more than 11.93 lakh electors—have been placed under ASDDO. This leaves only 11,69,775 electors outside the ASDDO category, which is 79,567 fewer than the number of votes recorded in 2024. If these figures hold, the constituency would have fewer eligible voters outside ASDDO than the number of ballots cast in the last election.

A similar, though less extreme, trend appears in Bengaluru North. The constituency recorded a turnout of 54.5% in 2024, with about 17.52 lakh votes cast. The SIR data now places 45.84% of the present electorate—around 14.94 lakh electors—under ASDDO. The remaining 17.65 lakh voters outside ASDDO exceed the 2024 vote count by only about 13,000.

Bengaluru Central also follows the pattern. With a 54.08% turnout in 2024, approximately 13.16 lakh votes were cast. The revision shows 46.99% of the present electorate, or about 11.56 lakh electors, under ASDDO. This leaves roughly 13.04 lakh voters outside the category, a difference of about 12,000 from the 2024 vote count.

Officials have addressed the unusual numbers, attributing the high ASDDO figures to suspected duplicate voters. A senior official said, “Most of these voters have voter IDs in other States or districts. But unless they admit that they have another voter ID elsewhere, we cannot classify them as duplicate. So, they are being marked as permanently shifted, which is why the number of shifted voters is high.”

However, the official did not explain how authorities identify that a person holds another voter ID without classifying them as duplicates, nor why such information is not acted upon. The Election Commission guidelines state that electors marked under ASDDO face deletion from the electoral roll unless they successfully contest the classification.

It is important to note that the comparison of SIR data with 2024 turnout does not establish that those now under ASDDO are the same individuals who voted. Yet the scale of the anomaly has raised concerns among civil society groups and political parties, who have urged the Election Commission to ensure that no legitimate voter is disenfranchised as a result of the revision.

The SIR is a routine exercise conducted to clean up electoral rolls, but the Bengaluru data suggests that the process may be affecting a disproportionately large segment of the electorate. While officials maintain that the figures are not unusual, independent analysts say such a high percentage of ASDDO entries warrants a thorough review, particularly in constituencies where the remaining electorate is now barely above or below the 2024 vote count.

Further clarity is expected as the revision process continues, with objections and claims from affected electors being heard. The Election Commission has not yet issued a detailed response to the findings.