Shivakumar seeks more time for Karnataka voter-roll claims after SIR draft

Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar has sought more time for Karnataka voters to challenge omissions or errors in the draft electoral rolls published after the Special Intensive Revision.

In his August 25 letter to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, Shivakumar said more than 1.08 crore names had been marked ASDDO and about 43 lakh voters were set to receive notices for logical discrepancies. He asked for the claims-and-objections period to be extended so voters excluded from the draft roll have adequate time to apply.

For people issued discrepancy notices, including those without a link to the 2002 roll, he requested at least three to four weeks to respond and submit documents. Bengaluru had already been told that 24.05 lakh voters would receive SIR notices.

Shivakumar also sought more electoral registration officers and data-entry operators, along with Gram Sabhas in rural areas and Ward Committee meetings in urban areas, with adequate publicity. “Mobility, poverty, lack of documentation or lack of information must not become reasons for disenfranchisement,” he wrote.