Deputy Commissioner and District Election Officer K. Nagendra Prasad addressing a press conference at the new district administrative complex in Ballari on June 4, 2026.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Ballari district will undertake a Special Intensive Revision (SIR)-2026 of electoral rolls, including a door-to-door voter verification drive from June 30, as part of an initiative by the Election Commission of India (ECI) to prepare an accurate and error-free voters’ list.Addressing a press conference at the VC Hall of the new District Administrative Complex in Ballari on June 4, District Election Officer and Deputy Commissioner K. Nagendra Prasad said every eligible citizen has a responsibility not only to participate in the democratic process through voting, but also to ensure that his or her name is correctly enrolled in the electoral roll.“The special revision exercise is aimed at ensuring that no eligible voter is left out and that the electoral roll remains transparent, inclusive and free from errors,” he said.Door-to-door verification by BLOsExplaining the process, the Deputy Commissioner said the ongoing special revision was significantly different from the routine annual revision of electoral rolls.As part of the exercise, Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will compulsorily visit every household covered under the electoral roll published on January 1, 2025, to verify voter details in person. While routine revisions generally involve applications for inclusion, deletion, transposition and correction through Forms 6, 7 and 8, the present exercise involves direct field verification of every voter.BLOs will visit each house from June 30 to July 21 and distribute a two-page Enumeration Form supplied by the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer. The form will be available in both Kannada and English. One copy of the completed form will be collected by the BLO, while the second copy, duly acknowledged, will be returned to the voter as proof of submission.Voters may use the acknowledgement receipt to file claims or objections if any discrepancy is noticed in the electoral roll during the revision process. BLOs have been entrusted with the responsibility of uploading and submitting voter details to the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) through the BLO App.Eligibility date and scheduleMr. Prasad said the ECI had initiated the special revision under Section 21 of the Representation of the People Act. Karnataka is currently covered under the third phase of the exercise.October 1, 2026, has been fixed as the qualifying date for the revision, meaning all citizens who attain the age of 18 years on or before that date will be eligible for enrolment.The schedule includes final training of officials from June 20 to 29, house-to-house verification from June 30 to July 21, rationalisation of polling stations by July 29, publication of the draft electoral roll on August 5, filing of claims and objections from August 5 to September 4, disposal of claims and objections by October 3, and publication of the final electoral roll on October 7.Over 97% voter mapping completedThe Deputy Commissioner said the district had achieved significant success in voter mapping through the use of technology and systematic verification.Of the 12,28,958 voters in the 2025 electoral rolls, as many as 12,00,463 voters – accounting for 97.68% – have already been successfully mapped with their family records using data from the 2002 electoral rolls. Special efforts will be undertaken in the coming days to trace and map the remaining 28,495 voters.No supporting documents required initiallyMr. Prasad clarified that BLOs would not insist on supporting documents while collecting the enumeration form from voters.Even if form are incomplete, BLOs will assist applicants in filling them correctly. Forms carrying the voter’s name and signature will be accepted. In cases where information is incomplete, notices will subsequently be issued by the Electoral Registration Officer seeking additional details and documents before claims or objections are disposed of.He added that BLOs have been instructed to visit locked houses at least three times at reasonable intervals before concluding verification. Published - June 05, 2026 01:04 pm IST
