SIR reports 16.38 lakh deceased voters, four times Karnataka’s average annual deaths

The scale of the electoral-roll figure raises a broader question on how long these names had remained on the rolls, and how many elections were conducted with the names of dead voters still appearing on the electoral rolls

Updated - August 22, 2026 08:34 pm IST - Bengaluru

Booth Level Officers verify enumeration form of residents during the Special Intensive Revision drive in Bengaluru. | Photo Credit: File photo

Of the over 1.08 crore voters identified till August 17, under the Absent, Shifted, Duplicate, Dead, and Other (ASDDO) categories in Karnataka, over 16.38 lakh have been marked as “dead” – the figure is nearly four times the average number of deaths recorded in the State in a year, according to an analysis of demographic estimates done for the period between 2002 and 2024.

While the comparison does not mean that 16.38 lakh people died in a single year, the scale of the figure is significant.

Between 2002 and 2024, Karnataka’s estimated total population deaths work out to around 98 lakh, or an average of about 4.45 lakh deaths a year, based on population estimates and the State’s annual crude death rates reported through the Sample Registration System (SRS). The highest annual estimate during this period was around 5.2 lakh in 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The scale of the electoral-roll figure raises a broader question on how long these names had remained on the rolls, and how many elections were conducted with the names of deceased voters still appearing on the electoral rolls.

It is pertinent to note that the ECI printed over 5.44 crore enumeration forms based on Karnataka’s 2025 electoral rolls, after summary revision, taking that number as the electorate to be covered under the SIR.

Going by the State’s average annual death estimate of around 4.45 lakh – a figure that also includes deaths among those below 18 years and not just voters – the number of electors who would have died between the 2025 roll and the current revision would still be expected to be lower. Yet, the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) has identified more than 16 lakh voters as dead, nearly four times Karnataka’s estimated average annual deaths.

The figure also continued to change after the Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) declared 100% digitisation of the enumeration forms. The ‘Dead’ category stood at 16.30 lakh on August 5, a day after the ASDDO list was made public, but rose to 16.38 lakh by August 17, when the enumeration phase ended.

The increase is significant because the Chief Electoral Officer has repeatedly maintained that deceased voters are being verified through death certificates or, where such documents are unavailable, a spot mahazar. If the enumeration data had been fully digitised, the rise in the number of voters classified as deceased also raises questions about when these cases were identified and how they were being added to the category.

Asked about the overall number and its increase, the Chief Electoral Officer said: “What we realised is that a large number of dead voters were on the rolls. But I cannot comment or have an opinion on the figures, as each case is accounted for with a death certificate or a spot mahazar.”

Even during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar, several cases emerged in which living voters were wrongly marked as “dead”. Activist Yogendra Yadav brought two such cases before the Supreme Court, highlighting how voters, who were alive, had been declared deceased.

Following this, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi met some voters who had been declared dead and had tea with them, pointing out that he had a unique experience of having “tea” with some of Bihar’s “dead” voters.

Published - August 22, 2026 07:50 pm IST

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