Bengaluru Voters Falsely Marked 'Shifted' in Electoral Roll Revision, Risk Deletion

As the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls continues in Karnataka, several families in Bengaluru have reported that one member has been marked as 'shifted' on enumeration forms despite the household living at the same address. In many cases, the remaining family members received forms without such a remark.

A voter from Yeshwanthpur Assembly constituency said their family initially received three forms instead of four. When they contacted their Booth Level Officer (BLO), they were told the fourth member had been assigned to another BLO. Days later, the BLO asked the family to collect the fourth form from a government school. Unlike the other three, this form carried a 'shifted' remark. The family pointed out they had not moved and their address had been updated since 2020. The BLO reportedly attributed it to a 'different polling station.' The voter questioned how to prove they had not shifted.

Several voters said BLOs claimed they were following records and did not know why the mark was applied. Some BLOs said they were instructed to mark voters as shifted if the 2002 address differed from the 2025 address. Others cited delimitation: when polling station boundaries are redrawn, entire streets or apartments may be assigned to new stations. If records are transferred but the previous BLO uses an outdated list, or the new BLO cannot locate a house, a voter may be erroneously marked as shifted. In such cases, Form 8 can be submitted for correction.

Being marked 'shifted' has serious consequences. If unresolved during the SIR, the voter's name could be deleted from the final electoral rolls. In another case, a woman received a notice that she had shifted from her parents' house to her husband's, but she stated she had been living with her husband at the same address since 2002.

While BLOs advise affected voters to submit Form 8, many question why they must undergo correction when their addresses are updated and they never moved. Chief Electoral Officer V. Anbu Kumar said voters are marked 'shifted' only when unavailable at the given address, and no such cases have been reported to him so far.