716 foreigners removed from voter rolls during SIR exercise

Bengaluru: The Election Commission of India has removed the names of 716 foreign nationals found to have been ineligible for inclusion in Karnataka’s electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, with Bengaluru North recording the highest number of deletions involving Nepalese citizens.

Officials said 583 ineligible entries were identified in Bengaluru North, of which 545 belonged to Nepalese nationals. Verification also revealed that citizens of the United States, Dubai, Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada had allegedly obtained voter identity cards, according to election officials.

Dakshina Kannada district recorded 40 deletions involving foreign nationals. These included 17 Nepalese, five Canadian, six Australian, six American and two British citizens. The names of one citizen each from the Netherlands, South Africa, Ireland and Norway were also removed. In Uttara Kannada district, 22 entries linked to nationals of Nepal, Pakistan, the United States and Bangladesh were deleted. Udupi district accounted for 44 deletions involving citizens of Nepal, the US, the UK, France, Canada and other countries. Officials also found names linked to Nepalese and Sri Lankan nationals in Belagavi and Hassan districts. The cases came to light during document verification conducted as part of the SIR process. Election officials examined individuals whose details could not be mapped to the 2002 electoral rolls and whose enumeration forms were undergoing scrutiny. According to officials, some of those concerned possessed voter identity cards but could not produce the prescribed supporting documents, including school certificates and property records, when asked to establish their eligibility. The subsequent verification resulted in the removal of 716 names belonging to foreign nationals from the electoral rolls. The exercise is aimed at checking the accuracy of voter records and identifying entries that do not meet the eligibility requirements for inclusion in Indian electoral rolls. Under election rules, only eligible Indian citizens can register as voters.

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The Hans India