Karnataka voter declared dead in draft roll
A 61-year-old Mangaluru man found himself listed as deceased in a draft electoral roll, sparking a bureaucratic runaround.
Donald Joseph Rego, a 61-year-old resident of Mangaluru South constituency, was declared dead in a draft electoral roll. The list, published on August 24 as part of a Special Intensive Revision (SIR), placed his name in the 'dead' category of the Absent, Shifted, Duplicate, Dead and Others (ASDDO) list.
Rego described a frustrating series of visits to election officials to correct the error. He alleged that officials passed responsibility between the assistant electoral officer, the booth-level officer, and the data entry operator who uploaded the information via a mobile app. His record was eventually corrected, and he received a revised document, now awaiting a physical voter ID.
Millions receive discrepancy notices
Over 4.3 million voters in Karnataka have received notices about discrepancies in their electoral records so far under the SIR exercise. The process is currently in the claims and objections phase, with hearings that began on September 5 set to continue until September 23.
What appears as a database cleanup is playing out in homes and government offices. Voters are scrambling for old documents to resolve suddenly questioned records. In one Jayanagar case, a voter was flagged because the recorded age gap with a sibling was less than nine months, requiring the family to explain a twin birth.
Hegganahalli resident Nagaraju Shivappa faced a request for an extra document alongside his Aadhaar card. Lacking an SSLC certificate or passport, he was advised to apply for a Permanent Residence Certificate. He spent five days attempting to submit the application online, encountering persistent portal errors. He was then asked to attend a hearing to explain his circumstances.
Technical hurdles and recent voters affected
Applications for Permanent Residence Certificates have themselves become obstacles. Technical and server problems have been reported on platforms including Atal Seva Sindhu, Bengaluru One, Karnataka One, and Gram One. Staff at rural centres have continued trying to upload applications despite these errors.
The revision has also raised questions for voters with more recent electoral participation. Independent journalist Rohini Mohan received a notice alleging a technical discrepancy, questioning if 'Rohini' and 'Rohini Mohan' were the same person despite no name change in previous records.
Journalist Samar Halarnkar discovered he and his 90-year-old mother had received notices after a list was circulated on WhatsApp, not from a booth-level officer. The Election Commission had matched his EPIC number with the 2002 electoral roll, yet both names were flagged.
The issues extend beyond Bengaluru. About 52,000 voters in coastal districts remain unmapped, according to Additional Deputy Commissioner of Dakshina Kannada Raju K. He said the issue affects people working abroad as well as migrants living and working in the district.
