Floods may hit special revision of K'taka electoral rolls

Bengaluru: The special summary revision to clean up and redo Karnataka’s electoral rolls — due to begin next month — could be challenging for two reasons. One: flash floods have displaced thousands of households; two, there is no urgency as there is no immediate election in the state.

The chief electoral officer (CEO), Karnataka, was to commence the exercise on August 16. It was postponed following an order by the Election Commission of India. The idea, originally, was to complete the process on September 30. But floods in many parts of India, including Karnataka, prompted the ECI to revise the dates. Now, the process may commence on September 1.

Special summary revision is carried out by election authorities every year to improve the hygiene of electoral rolls and increase voter enrolment. The CEO, Karnataka, prepares the final electoral roll usually in January. The process gives an opportunity for people to include, correct or have their names deleted from the electoral rolls. This time around, officials had chalked out new plans to increase enrolment, especially among young voters. “The destruction and displacement caused by flash floods in 17 districts is likely to affect the voter-roll purification exercise. Officials in flood-affected areas, too, will be busy with rehabilitation and relief work,” said PS Vastrad, senior consultant, SVEEP (Election Commission of India).


Besides, priorities of people in flood-affected areas will be to rebuild their lives than participate in the electoral roll programme.

In Bengaluru, however, the concern is about people’s indifference towards electoral rolls, especially as there is no election anytime soon. “It will be a challenge to make people verify their voter registration details on websites or phone applications. Usually, in an election year, people are interested in checking their names, but since we do not have any immediate election in the state, it could be a discouraging factor,” Vastrad said. The total number of registered voters in BBMP limits as of March 2019 is 89 lakh.