Bengaluru, 29 June

CEO V Anbukkumar on Monday said BLOs would begin distributing enumeration forms from 30 June as Karnataka commenced the SIR of the 2026 electoral roll.

He said the qualifying date for the exercise is 1 October, 2026.

Addressing a press conference here, the chief electoral officer said BLOs would conduct house-to-house visits from 30 June to 29 July.

The draft electoral roll will be published on 5 August.

He said the period for filing claims and objections would be from August 5 to September 4, while notices, wherever required, would be issued and claims and objections disposed of between 5 August and 3 October.

The final electoral roll will be published on 7 October.

"As far as Karnataka is concerned, the entire machinery is geared up for this exercise. We have deployed 68,123 officials, such as 59,050 booth level officers, 7,556 booth level supervisors and 224 electoral registration officers. All officers, from the chief electoral officer to district-level officers, have been trained and are ready to undertake this exercise," he said.

Anbukkumar said political parties had appointed around 1.15 lakh booth level agents, the majority of whom had been trained.

"We have printed enumeration forms for more than 5.54 crore voters whose names appeared on the electoral roll as of 16 June, 2026. These forms have been distributed to BLOs at the polling station level," he said.

"Our BLOs will begin distributing the forms to all voters whose names appear on the 2026 electoral roll from 30 June to 29 July," he added.

The chief electoral oficer requested all voters to affix their photographs to the forms, fill in the required details, sign them and return them to the respective BLOs.

"With regard to mapping in Karnataka, we have already completed 91.61 per cent mapping. The electoral roll for SIR 2026 was frozen on 16 June, 2026. On that date, the total number of electors in Karnataka stood at 55,432,314. Of these, we have already mapped 91.61 per cent," he said.

"At the Assembly constituency level, 126 constituencies have completed more than 95 per cent mapping, while 173 of the 224 constituencies have completed more than 90 per cent mapping. The process is continuing and will continue until the end of July," he said.

According to him, BLOs have been provided with two types of stickers—a square sticker indicating that the enumeration form has been delivered, and a red sticker for locked houses, mentioning the date of the BLO's next visit.

"Every enumeration form will carry the BLO's name and mobile number. If you need any assistance in filling out the form, contact your BLO. For the convenience of voters, we have also set up Voter Registration Centres at the Gram Panchayat level," he said.

"Details of your BLO, polling station, VRC, and the contact information of EROs and Assistant Electoral Registration Officers are available on our website," he said.

He said the enumeration forms were partially pre-filled and that, once they were returned by voters after being completed, BLOs would begin digitising them.

He added that all necessary arrangements had been made for the exercise.

He thanked political parties for appointing BLAs and creating awareness among voters, and urged all officials concerned to complete the enumeration exercise as per the Election Commission of India's schedule.

"I urge every voter to participate and ensure that his or her name is included in the electoral roll," Anbukkumar said.

He clarified that until the draft electoral roll is published, BLOs have been instructed not to collect any documents from voters during the enumeration phase.

"Documents may be required only from those who receive a notice after the draft electoral roll is published if there is any discrepancy in their details. In such cases, a notice will specify the discrepancy, the documents required for verification and the time within which a response must be submitted," he said.

Responding to a question on concerns over transparency in the implementation of the exercise and its potential impact on eligible voters, Anbukkumar said the entire process was being conducted strictly in accordance with the law.

Responding to the Congress party's allegations regarding discrepancies in the details of BLOs published on the CEO Karnataka website, he said, "We have uploaded the information on our website and have already updated it. If there are any mistakes, we will correct them. However, I am confident that we have made every effort to provide accurate information."

When asked about the BJP's complaint regarding a "parallel" SIR process for Greater Bengaluru Authority wards being conducted by the State Election Commission, Anbukkumar said, "I can comment only on the SIR being conducted by the Election Commission of India. I cannot comment on any exercise being carried out by the State Election Commission."