Belagavi district has reported a large number of voters whose details are yet to be mapped during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, raising concerns about their inclusion in the final voter list.
According to election officials, out of the district’s total 41.22 lakh voters, around 38.22 lakh have been successfully mapped, while 2,99,870 voters remain unmapped due to missing or incomplete records.
The issue is particularly significant in urban constituencies. Belagavi North has the highest number of unmapped voters at 71,293, followed by Belagavi South with 42,964 voters. In total, more than 1.1 lakh unmapped voters belong to urban assembly segments.
Belagavi district, which has the highest number of assembly constituencies in Karnataka at 18, has a voter base of 41,22,869. This includes 20,68,398 women, 20,54,276 men and 195 third-gender voters spread across 4,525 polling stations.
Officials said the mapping exercise is being carried out using data from the 2001 electoral roll. However, many voter records are missing from the database, creating difficulties in verifying and updating details.
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 12 documents prescribed by the Election Commission along with a self-attested declaration form.
Officials warned that voters who fail to provide the required information may be marked as absent. Once removed from the electoral roll, getting re-enrolled could become a lengthy process.
As per the schedule, the draft electoral roll will be published on August 5, objections and claims will be considered until October 3, and the final voter list will be released on October 7.
Preliminary surveys have revealed that many of the unmapped voters are currently living abroad or have migrated to cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, while still retaining their names in Belagavi’s voter list. Officials also noted that more than 50,000 people from other states and countries are currently residing in Belagavi.