Bangalore:
As the Special Intensive Review (SIR) of voter lists begins in Karnataka from Tuesday, Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar warned citizens against losing their right to vote. Urging people to ensure their names are included in the voter list, the Chief Minister warned that those who lose the right to vote will also lose government benefits.
“The right to vote is the right to life,” he said. “An order has been issued in West Bengal to check and exclude all those not eligible for ration on the basis of SIR. Similar measures are being taken in other states. If you lose the right to vote, you will lose government benefits,” he added.
The Election Commission will begin a general census across Karnataka from Tuesday and will continue until July 29.
In a major step to help people in the SIR process, the DK Shivakumar government has announced that it will be issuing permanent residence certificates to citizens. The Department of Revenue has published detailed guidelines for issuing permanent residence certificates. Citizens can receive them both online and offline.
The Department of Revenue has stated that this certificate of permanent residence will serve as proof of residency. Citizens can apply for domicile certificate online through the Seva Sindhu portal and at existing citizen service centers such as Atal Jana Snehi Kendras or Nadakacheris, Bengaluru One, Karnataka One and Grama One.
Karnataka State Election Commission chief Anbukumar told NDTV that the review will affect over 5.5 million voters across the state. A total of 59,050 Booth LOs (BLOs) were trained and deployed, along with 7,556 BLO Supervisors, 224 Voter Registration Officers and 336 Assistant Voter Registration Officers. In addition, more than 1.1 million tent agents appointed by political parties were trained.
“We have already printed two sets of forms to enumerate over 5.5 million voters and these forms have reached all BLOs. BLOs will start visiting voters’ houses and distributing forms from Tuesday morning,” Anbukumar said.
BLO representatives will visit each household to distribute census forms to voters whose names are included in the voter list as of June 16, 2026. Houses where forms are being distributed will be marked with a purple square sticker, while locked houses will be marked with a red round sticker. If necessary, BLOs will make at least three visits to collect completed forms.
The election commission clarified that no documents will be collected at the census stage.
“I request voters to get the form, fill it out, sign it and return it back to the BLO,” Anbukumar said.
Seeking to allay concerns about the exercise, the CEO said, “The entire process will be carried out as per the guidelines of the Election Commission of India and in accordance with the law. So I ask people not to have any fears.”
He said the director general’s office would issue daily updates on the progress of the exercise.
The draft voter list will be published on August 5, claims and objections can be submitted until September 4, and the final voter list will be published on October 7.