PolityPrelimsGS2

Errors found in Bengaluru's final electoral roll after Special Intensive Revision

By CAShorts DeskPublished 3 November 2026, 7:28 pm ISTSource: The Hindu; Office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka (final roll publication booklet, SIR 2026).

At least 1,000 entries in Bengaluru's final electoral roll are faulty, a press check found. The roll was published on 27 October 2026 after Karnataka's Special Intensive Revision (SIR). Some names show as garbled symbols. Relatives' names read "Husband" or a single letter, and some fields hold e-mail IDs or dates.

Syllabus: Prelims · Polity & Governance; GS2 · Representation of the People Act; GS2 · Constitutional Bodies

Why this matters for UPSC

GS2 polity: the Representation of the People Act, 1950 and how electoral rolls are revised. Prelims can ask who hears roll appeals; Mains, the accuracy of rolls.

Why it matters

A voter whose name appears as a row of symbols cannot easily find her own entry, and a polling officer may struggle to match her to it on polling day. The burden of fixing the mistake now falls on her: she must notice it, file a correction form and follow it up. Many affected people assumed the garbled text was a passing glitch and found their entries only by searching house numbers. The larger issue is trust in the roll itself. A revision meant to clean the list can also introduce new errors when data is typed into software in two scripts, and those errors reach the final, published version unless someone checks it before release.

Prelims pointers

Under the Representation of the People Act, 1950, an appeal against an Electoral Registration Officer's decision lies with the District Magistrate; a second appeal lies with the Chief Electoral Officer.
Form 6 adds a name to the roll, Form 7 objects to a proposed inclusion or seeks a deletion, and Form 8 covers shifting of residence and correction of entries.
In a revision, Electoral Registration Officers publish the draft roll in Form 5 and the final roll in Form 16.
Booth Level Officers are officials who work at one polling station each; Booth Level Agents are appointed by recognised political parties to watch the revision.
The ECI directs a revision; the State's Chief Electoral Officer oversees it, District Election Officers run it in districts, and EROs run it in each assembly constituency.

Practise a UPSC-style question

With reference to appeals on electoral roll decisions under the Representation of the People Act, 1950, consider the following statements:

1. An appeal against an Electoral Registration Officer's decision lies first with the State Election Commission.

2. A second appeal on such a decision lies with the Chief Electoral Officer of the State.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Show the answer

Answer: (b) 2 only

Answer: (b) 2 only. The first appeal goes to the District Magistrate, the second to the Chief Electoral Officer.

Statement 1: incorrect. Under the Representation of the People Act, 1950, the first appeal against an ERO's decision lies with the District Magistrate, not a State Election Commission.

Statement 2: correct. If the appellant is still unsatisfied with the District Magistrate's order, the Act allows a second appeal to the State's Chief Electoral Officer.

Eliminate: Statement 2 matches the appeal chain set out by the Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka, so it is correct. Out: (a), (d).

Eliminate: Statement 1 names the wrong authority for the first appeal. Out: (c).

Trap: Look-alike names. The State Election Commission sounds like the right body for any election dispute, but roll appeals run through the District Magistrate and the Chief Electoral Officer.

Remember: ERO decides, District Magistrate hears the first appeal, Chief Electoral Officer the second.

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