SIR: Voters flagged with ‘logical discrepancies’ even before draft electoral roll in Karnataka

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Updated - July 18, 2026 08:29 pm IST - Bengaluru

Voters are reporting that after submitting the enumeration form online, they are seeing a pop-up stating that an anomaly has been detected, along with an option to view what logical discrepancy is flagged. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Even before the publication of the draft electoral roll, voters filling their enumeration forms online under the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls are being shown notifications flagging “anomalies” after submitting their forms. This indicates that “logical discrepancies” have already become part of the process.

So far, the Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) V. Anbu Kumar had not clarified whether logical discrepancies would be applied during the enumeration stage, with the CEO constantly indicating that it would become clear only after the draft electoral rolls. However, voters are now reporting that after submitting the enumeration form online, they are seeing a pop-up stating that an anomaly has been detected, along with an option to view what logical discrepancy is flagged.

Anamoly notifications online

One voter, speaking to The Hindu on condition of anonymity, said he attempted to submit the form as a progeny by entering his father’s details. However, the portal flagged the following anomaly — “Due to the mismatch between the names of your father, as given in the current electoral rolls and as given in the electoral rolls prepared during the previous SIR, as per the linkage shown in your enumeration form, you seem to be incorrectly linked with the electoral rolls prepared during the previous SIR.”

This was followed by another notification indicating that “The age difference between you and your parent, whose details are used to link you with the electoral rolls prepared during the previous SIR, is less than 15 years, which seems to be due to incorrect matching.”

In another instance, a voter received an anomaly stating: “You have been linked as son/daughter with someone who is also claimed by six others as father, giving suspicion of a likely incorrect match.”

These are among the logical discrepancies that The Hindu had reported on earlier.

Voters said that even after entering the correct details, the portal continued to flag anomalies.

While it remains unclear whether an AI-based system is being used to identify anomalies in Karnataka, it is pertinent to note that similar instances were reported during the SIR in West Bengal, where an AI-based system flagged multiple categories of logical discrepancies. The system then came under criticism after genuine voters were “incorrectly flagged” as anomalous due to false positives.

Recently, the CEO said, “Even if your details are not available in the 2002 electoral roll, fill up the enumeration form. Your name will continue to appear in the draft electoral roll.”

He said such electors would subsequently receive a notice from the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO), following which they could produce any one of the 12 documents prescribed by the Election Commission. “The ERO would then take a decision after due verification, in accordance with the rules.”

Voters, however, questioned why they should be subjected to additional scrutiny despite providing the correct details and why they should have to face ERO proceedings because of discrepancies they did not create.

Voters also questioned the purpose of the earlier mapping exercise, arguing that the same parental details had already been used during the mapping. “If these discrepancies existed, why were they not identified or communicated at that stage?” voters asked.

Karnataka had completed more than 92% of the mapping.

When contacted, the CEO said he was not aware of the development and would look into it.

Published - July 18, 2026 07:23 pm IST

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