Nearly 3 Lakh Belagavi Voters Yet to Be Mapped; Concerns Grow Over Electoral Roll Revision
Concerns are rising across Belagavi district as nearly 3 lakh voters remain unmapped during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, raising fears that many eligible voters could be excluded from the final voter list if verification issues are not resolved.
According to election officials, out of the district’s 41.22 lakh registered voters, around 38.23 lakh have been successfully mapped, while 2.99 lakh voters are still facing mapping-related issues. Among them, more than 1.1 lakh voters belong to urban constituencies.
The situation is particularly significant in Belagavi North Assembly constituency, where 71,293 voters remain unmapped, followed by Belagavi South with 42,964 unmapped voters.
Belagavi district, which has the highest number of Assembly constituencies in Karnataka at 18, currently has 20.68 lakh women voters, 20.54 lakh men voters, and 195 third-gender voters, spread across 4,525 polling stations.
Officials said the mapping exercise is being conducted using data from the 2001 electoral rolls, and many names are reportedly missing from those records, creating challenges in verifying voter details.
Residents have expressed concern over the process. Some voters say that records of older family members are unavailable in the 2001 database, making it difficult to complete verification despite being eligible voters.
To address the issue, Block Level Officers (BLOs) will conduct door-to-door visits between June 30 and July 29. Voters will be required to submit any one of the documents prescribed by the Election Commission along with a self-attested declaration form.
Officials warned that voters who fail to provide the necessary information could be marked as absent from the rolls. Once removed, re-enrolling in the voter list may become a lengthy process.
As per the election schedule, the draft electoral roll will be published on August 5, objections and claims will be processed until October 3, and the final voter list will be released on October 7.
The survey has also revealed that several unmapped voters are currently residing abroad or have migrated to cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad without deleting their names from the Belagavi voter list. Authorities estimate that over 50,000 voters from other states and overseas locations are currently linked to Belagavi records.
Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Roshan assured that voters whose identities have not yet been mapped will be given another opportunity to complete the process. He said eligible voters who submit valid information and supporting documents will be included in the final electoral roll.
