Bengaluru, August 7: The Karnataka Congress President, B.K. Hariprasad, has written to the state’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), V. Ambu Kumar, requesting a 15-day extension for voters to correct their names in the ADDDSO category during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls.
In his letter, Hariprasad highlighted the status of the digitization of electoral forms (EF) as of August 5, noting that 1,10,97,426 voters have been categorized under ADDDSO, absentee, deceased, removed, transferred, and others, which constitutes 20.02% of the total voters in the state.
The KPCC chief mentioned that the CEO’s office has made a readable list of ADDDSO voters available online, allowing genuine voters in this category to contact their respective Booth Level Officers (BLOs) to rectify their records.
Hariprasad expressed concern that the current deadline of August 8 does not provide sufficient time for all affected voters to verify and correct their information. He stated, “As this deadline ends on August 8, we seek a 15-day extension to properly complete this process and minimize the number of ADDDSO entries.”
The party emphasized that many genuine voters may have been incorrectly categorized, and they should be given ample opportunity to restore their names before the voter list revision process concludes.
This request comes amid ongoing political debates regarding the SIR in Karnataka, where the ruling party has raised concerns about the classification of voters under the ADDDSO category. The Election Commission has stated that voters can contact BLOs to rectify any discrepancies before the final list is prepared.
Hariprasad urged the CEO to consider the request to ensure that no eligible voter is deprived of their voting rights due to procedural hurdles.
In response to the issue of removing 1.10 crore names from the voter list, Chief Minister Shivakumar stated that he would address the matter only after the SIR process is complete. He assured that he would discuss the issue separately.
The Karnataka Congress accused the ongoing SIR of being used to disenfranchise eligible voters, alleging that the BJP is attempting to strip its supporters of their voting rights ahead of upcoming elections. Citing information from the Chief Electoral Officer, V. Ambu Kumar, KPCC’s Media and Communication Chairman Ramesh Babu claimed that nearly 20% of the state’s 5.40 crore voters are at risk of being removed from the voter list.
He asserted, “Every voter removed in Karnataka is directly the responsibility of the BJP. The SIR process is not just about improving the voter list; it is an attempt to eliminate Congress supporters from the rolls.”
He called on the Election Commission to ensure that no eligible voter is left off the list. According to him, voters are being removed based on claims of absence, death, multiple registrations, or address changes. He alleged that the percentage of proposed removals has increased from 15% last week to 20% this week.
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