Karnataka's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls kicks off on 30 June 2026, with 59,050 Booth Level Officers (BLOs) fanning out across the state for a month-long, door-to-door enumeration drive to keep the rolls accurate, complete and current. The exercise covers all 5,54,32,314 registered electors on the rolls as of 16 June 2026.

What the Revision Entails

Chief Electoral Officer V. Anbu Kumar told reporters in Bengaluru on Monday that the SIR is being conducted on directions from the Election Commission of India (ECI), with 1 October 2026 as the qualifying date. He described the exercise as 'participative, transparent and citizen-centric' and urged all electors to cooperate with BLOs by accurately filling, signing and handing over the Enumeration Forms during home visits.

Karnataka is one of 16 states and three Union Territories where the SIR is being simultaneously carried out this cycle.

Timeline and Key Dates

The house-to-house enumeration runs from 30 June to 29 July 2026. BLOs will visit every household in their assigned polling areas and distribute Enumeration Forms to electors whose names appear on the roll as of 16 June 2026. The draft electoral roll will be published on 5 August, followed by a one-month window — until 4 September — for filing claims and objections. The final electoral roll will be published on 7 October 2026 after all claims are disposed of.

Notably, electors who fail to submit a duly completed Enumeration Form within the prescribed period will not be included in the draft roll — making participation effectively mandatory for continued voter registration.

Ground-Level Deployment

All preparatory work has been completed, according to Anbu Kumar. Alongside the 59,050 BLOs, the state has trained 31 District Election Officers, four Additional District Election Officers, 224 Electoral Registration Officers, 336 Assistant Electoral Registration Officers, and 7,556 BLO Supervisors. A further 1,15,112 Booth Level Agents appointed by political parties have been deployed, with the majority already trained.

To track field progress, BLOs will paste colour-coded stickers on visited households: a violet square sticker indicates the Enumeration Form has been distributed, while a red circular sticker marks a locked or absent household. BLOs will make at least three visits to households where forms remain uncollected.

Digital and Offline Participation Options

Electors can also submit their Enumeration Forms online through the Voters' Service Portal and the ECINET mobile application starting 30 June. No supporting documents will be collected during the enumeration phase. Citizens who have recently become eligible to vote may apply for inclusion by submitting Form 6 along with the prescribed declaration form per ECI guidelines.

Awareness rallies, Prabhat Pheris and community outreach programmes are planned across districts and Assembly constituencies. Circulars, training videos, FAQs and reference materials have been made available through a dedicated public online repository by the Chief Electoral Officer's office.

Broader Context

This is among the most logistically intensive electoral exercises in Karnataka in recent years, mobilising over 1.84 lakh field personnel and party agents simultaneously. With the state's last major assembly election having drawn significant scrutiny over roll accuracy, the ECI's push for a simultaneous SIR across 19 states and Union Territories signals a system-wide effort to shore up electoral integrity ahead of the next electoral cycle. The final roll published on 7 October 2026 will serve as the baseline for any upcoming elections in the state.