Karnataka Voter Mapping: Only 31% Self-Matched from 2002 Rolls
Karnataka's ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has revealed that only 1.72 crore electors, or 31.06% of the state's current 5.54 crore electorate, have been self-mapped to their own entries in the 2002 electoral rolls. This indicates that a significant portion of the 3.5 crore voters enrolled nearly 24 years ago are no longer on the rolls due to death, migration, multiple entries, or other reasons.
Data released by the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) on Tuesday showed that as of 6 p.m., 1,72,17,945 electors had successfully matched their present records with their own entries from 2002. Another 2,21,63,686 electors (39.98%) were mapped as 'progeny', meaning their enumeration forms were linked to a parent or family member whose name appeared in the 2002 rolls. Together, self-mapping and progeny mapping account for nearly 3.94 crore electors, or about 71% of the state's electorate.
Chief Electoral Officer V. Anbu Kumar explained that the Election Commission has not separately analysed why only 1.72 crore electors were self-mapped despite the 2002 rolls having over 3.5 crore entries. However, he attributed the difference largely to electors who have died, permanently shifted residence, or are otherwise no longer part of the rolls. The SIR data supports this: so far, 14.67 lakh electors have been identified as deceased, 48.59 lakh as permanently shifted, and 5.38 lakh as already enrolled elsewhere. Additionally, 10.82 lakh electors are untraceable or absent, while 79.75 lakh forms were placed under the ASDDO category (forms not collected during house-to-house visits).
As many as 28.71 lakh forms (5.18% of the electorate) were categorised as having 'no mapping', meaning they could not be linked through either self-mapping or progeny mapping. The Election Commission has digitised more than three-fourths of the eEnumeration forms collected during the exercise, which continues until August 8. Despite this, online submission of forms remains low, with only 6,57,897 electors (1.19%) submitting online. Of these, 6,10,076 have been verified by Booth Level Officers, while 47,821 await verification.
