Bengaluru's electoral roll deadline likely to be extended again

The deadline for finalising the electoral roll — a prerequisite for conducting the long-delayed elections to Bengaluru’s five municipal corporations — is likely to be extended for a third time.

However, the State Election Commission (SEC) has reiterated that elections in the Greater Bengaluru Area (GBA) will be held by the end of June.

According to a circular issued in November 2025, the SEC had planned to publish the final ward-wise electoral roll on March 16, marking the completion of a 110-day exercise involving pre-revision and revision of the voters’ list. By now, the commission was also expected to have closed the 15-day window for filing claims and objections.

Sources in the commission told DH that the deadline for submitting claims and objections to the draft electoral roll — published on January 19 and comprising 88.90 lakh voters — is set to be revised again.

"An official communication will be issued soon,” an officer said, adding that the March 16 deadline could be extended by two weeks.

The proposed extension follows a representation by Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar to SEC Commissioner SG Sangreshi, seeking a comprehensive street-wise and house-wise mapping of voters in Bengaluru to address what he described as “serious and widespread” errors in the electoral rolls.

He reportedly pointed to discrepancies in the draft rolls, including members of the same family being assigned to different polling stations, duplicate entries, and deletion of names.

3rd revision of deadline

In October 2025, the SEC initially announced a 90-day exercise to prepare the electoral roll, setting January 2026 as the deadline for completion. However, the schedule was revised the following month after the state government delayed notifying the newly carved wards. The deadline was subsequently extended to March 16.

If sources are to be believed, the commission now expects the final electoral roll to be ready by the first week of April.

Officials within the commission maintained that the revised schedule will not delay the elections, which are slated to be held by the end of June.

“We require about 45 days to complete all election-related processes, including nominations and polling arrangements. Even if the electoral roll is finalised in April, the elections will be conducted within the deadline set by the Supreme Court,” an official said.