Bengaluru DEO admits voters were wrongly flagged, says they must still face inquiry

The Bengaluru Urban district election office has admitted that some voters in the Byatarayanapura Assembly constituency were wrongly marked as having “No mapping” despite having correct records in the 2002 electoral roll. The office, however, said these voters will still have to undergo an inquiry by election officials.

According to a press note issued on Wednesday, September 2, the Election Registration Officer (ERO) and Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO) will examine such cases, collect documents from the concerned voters and verify their eligibility. The Additional District Election Officer (ADEO) will subsequently ensure that eligible voters are included in the final electoral roll.

The admission came after reports alleged irregularities in the digitisation and mapping of voter samples during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the 152-Byatarayanapura constituency.

The district election office said it scrutinised several polling booths in the constituency, including booths 158, 284, 206, 161, 163, 167, 168, 176 and 177. Detailed scrutiny was carried out at booths 206, 176 and 177.

At booth 206, which has 1,249 voters, 722 voter samples had been digitised. Of these, 488 were marked as “No mapping”. The election office said 434 had no corresponding record in the 2002 SIR electoral roll, while 51 had incomplete or mismatched details.

However, three voters had correct records in the 2002 electoral roll but had still been wrongly marked as “No mapping”, the office acknowledged.

At booth 176, there were 1,349 voters, of whom 866 samples had been digitised. Ninety-two were marked “No mapping”. The office said 85 had no corresponding 2002 record and seven had mismatched details. No cases were found where a voter with a correct 2002 record had been wrongly marked.

At booth 177, out of 1,388 voters, 778 samples had been digitised, and 113 were marked “No mapping”. Of these, 104 had no corresponding 2002 record, and nine had mismatched details. Again, the office said no voters with correct 2002 records had been wrongly marked.

The election office said the majority of “No mapping” cases were due to the absence of corresponding records in the old electoral roll or discrepancies in the available details, rather than errors in the digitisation process.

However, even where voters were wrongly marked as “No mapping”, the concerned ERO and AERO will conduct an inquiry, the press note said. The officials will collect documents from the voters and examine their cases before the ADEO ensures that eligible voters are correctly included in the final electoral roll.

For other “No mapping” cases, the concerned voters will be issued notices and allowed to respond with the required documents. The election office said the process would be carried out without causing inconvenience to voters.

The district election office added that the same scrutiny would be undertaken in other polling booths and constituencies wherever required.

Under the current SIR 2026 schedule, voters can file claims and objections between August 24 and September 23, while the disposal of claims and objections will take place between August 24 and October 22.