Following allegations by the Archdiocese of Bengaluru that the names of several voters, belonging to minority communities in the Shivajinagar constituency, were missing from the final electoral list, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka, said on Saturday that the Election Commission of India (ECI) does not capture any data of voters related to caste and religion. Hence, the deletions of names, based on caste or religion, do not arise, it said.
The Archdiocese of Bengaluru had recently written to the Chief Electoral Commissioner alleging that 8,000 names, including voters from the SC, Backward Classes and the Muslim Communities, of the total number of 9,195 names of voters, were missing in the Final Electoral Roll-2023.
Responding to the allegations, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer said verification was done and it found that 9,195 persons were not found in their residences and 1,847 persons were found to be dead.
"Among these, no names have been deleted yet. Necessary action is being taken as per the guidelines by sending notices to these voters and Standard Operating Procedure of the Election Commission of India is being followed," it stated.
Published 18 February 2023, 16:59 IST