BENGALURU: Nearly half of Bengaluru’s electorate has been flagged under the Election Commission’s Absent, Shifted, Dead, Duplicate and Others (ASDDO) category during Karnataka’s ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, raising concerns over the scale of voter verification in the state.According to data released by the Election Commission, more than 1.11 crore electors — or 20.03% of Karnataka’s 5.54 crore voters — have been classified under the ASDDO category. Of these, over 50 lakh are from Bengaluru’s four election districts — Bengaluru Urban, BBMP South, BBMP North and BBMP Central — accounting for nearly half of the city’s electorate.The EC clarified that voters listed under ASDDO have not been deleted from the electoral rolls and remain eligible for verification and correction.District-wise figures show BBMP South has the highest proportion of flagged electors, with 11.07 lakh voters (51.65%) placed under ASDDO. It is followed by BBMP Central (48.42%), BBMP North (47.46%) and Bengaluru Urban (45.09%).The ASDDO category includes 66.64 lakh shifted voters, 16.3 lakh absent or untraceable electors, 16.3 lakh deceased voters, 6.89 lakh duplicate enrolments and 4.88 lakh cases classified under “others”.Chief Electoral Officer V Anbukkumar said the classification follows field verification carried out by booth-level officers (BLOs).“In ASDDO cases, field verification has been completed and spot mahazars have been prepared in the presence of witnesses, with signatures of either booth-level agents (BLAs), local residents or BLO supervisors, as applicable,” he said.He added that duplicate cases are based on self-declarations, while death certificates or spot verification reports are obtained for deceased electors. If an elector refuses to sign during verification, the case is classified under the “others” category.The EC has shared ASDDO lists with recognised political parties and made them available with BLOs for verification. Constituency-wise lists have also been uploaded on the Karnataka CEO’s website to enable voters to check their status.Officials said electors wrongly marked as ASDDO can approach their BLO or the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) to restore their enumeration forms until August 8, when the enumeration exercise concludes. Those who miss the deadline can still apply for inclusion in the final electoral roll through Form 6 before the claims and objections process closes on September 16.The commission said it had completed 100% distribution of Enumeration Forms, while 79.93% of forms had been digitised as of Wednesday afternoon. More than 4.43 crore forms have already been uploaded, with only 22,977 forms pending.To facilitate enrolment of new voters, especially in Bengaluru, the EC has also supplied 10 lakh Form-6 applications for citizens turning 18 years of age by October 1, 2026. Between June 16 and August 4, election authorities received over 12.2 lakh applications, including 3.72 lakh fresh enrolment requests.While the scale of ASDDO tagging has sparked concern, the Election Commission reiterated that being listed under the category does not automatically mean deletion from the electoral rolls, and all flagged entries remain open for verification before the final rolls are published on October 19.
