Bengaluru

Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Tuesday urged voters in the state to actively participate in the SIR of electoral rolls, submit their enumeration forms before the July 29 deadline and update their mobile numbers to ensure their electoral records remain current.

Speaking to reporters after submitting his own enumeration form, Shivakumar said the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise had commenced across the state with door-to-door distribution of forms by Booth Level Officers (BLOs) from Tuesday, and advised voters to make use of either the physical or online modes to complete the process.

"We should all make an effort to protect our right to vote," Shivakumar said.

He appealed to the people to return the completed enumeration forms within the stipulated time.

He said the exercise had begun at his own residence and that he had filled in and signed his enumeration form. Voters wishing to download the form online could do so using the mobile number already linked to their voter records, while those who had changed their phone numbers could update them with the help of election officials, he said.

The chief minister said Booth Level Agents (BLAs), BLOs and supervisors had already created WhatsApp groups to assist voters. He clarified that any responsible adult member of a family could sign the enumeration form on behalf of the household if other members were away.

He also said voters could submit a new photograph if they wished to replace an old one and update their mobile number, while Aadhaar details could be entered only for identification purposes.

Responding to concerns that the mobile application could be difficult for some people to use, Shivakumar said, "While you can complete the process through the app, you can also simply take the physical form and fill it up." On the possible linkage between electoral rolls and government welfare schemes, the chief minister said some states had already stopped extending benefits to persons who were not eligible to find a place in the electoral roll and cautioned that similar standards could be adopted elsewhere.

"If a person is no longer a voter here, why should we continue giving guarantee benefits? If someone is registered as a voter somewhere else but is receiving guarantee benefits here, that should not happen," he said.

"We cannot allow someone to come from another place, receive benefits there and also receive them here. We intend that the benefits should go only to the people of our state," Shivakumar said.

The Election Commission launched the month-long house-to-house SIR exercise across Karnataka on Tuesday to prepare an updated electoral roll.

BLOs will distribute enumeration forms until July 29, after which the draft electoral roll is scheduled to be published on August 5.

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Claims and objections will be accepted until September 4, and the final electoral roll is slated for publication on October 7. The qualifying date for young voters to get enrolled as voters is October 1, 2026, which means they should have completed 18 years of age on or before that date to find a place in the electoral roll.