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Civil society groups allege irregularities in deletions, seek government intervention
In what could be described as one of the sharpest electoral crises in recent state history, Karnataka’s final electoral roll has revealed an 18 per cent net reduction in voters, effectively removing nearly one crore citizens from the voting lists following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise that concluded in the last week of October.
Released on October 27, 2026, the massive reduction marks the second-highest decline in India’s electoral history, according to civil society groups, which have now formed a forum and urged the government not to accept the final electoral roll. While the Election Commission has officially attributed the decline to routine deduplication, migration and deaths, investigations conducted by civil society groups have raised allegations of coordinated irregularities in the deletion process, potentially affecting specific voter demographics ahead of crucial local civic body elections. Paper trail of alleged irregularities.
The controversy entered the legal domain this week after Bengaluru’s cybercrime cell registered multiple FIRs in the Jayanagar and Malleswaram Assembly constituencies. At the centre of the investigation is the alleged misuse of Form 7, the official document used to request the deletion of a name from the electoral roll.
Sources within the cybercrime unit, speaking on condition of anonymity, said tens of thousands of applications were allegedly uploaded using automated bots through common IP addresses. “We are tracking a digital footprint that points to a centralised server. The signatures on the Pressure Point physical counter-copies show blatant, coordinated forgery — hundreds of forms signed by the exact same hand using fictitious objector names,” a senior investigator said. Booth-level complicity and micro-targeting.
Further investigations have raised questions over whether the deletions were isolated technical errors or part of a wider pattern affecting specific localities and working-class neighbourhoods. “We were completely overwhelmed,” said a Booth Level Officer (BLO) from Bengaluru South. “Suddenly, we received bundles of automated Form 7 requests for specific blocks.
We are supposed to do physical verification, but the sheer volume and immense pressure from local political intermediaries forced hasty approvals. It was a factory line of deletions.” Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) were among the first to raise concerns after residents of several high-rise clusters and historic municipal neighbourhoods reportedly found their names missing from the electoral rolls.
“This is an invisible emergency,” said human rights activist Narasimhamurthy. He added, “I came to know that entire families who have lived in Malleswaram for very long years and voting have been scrubbed out. When we cross-verified the data, we found a distinct pattern: pockets that historically vote against the ruling local factions were disproportionately targeted.” The developments have triggered political reactions, with civil society groups preparing to approach the High Court. Meanwhile, citizens are scrambling to check their electoral status ahead of the upcoming elections.