Election Commission, through many special drives, has been focusing on getting more voters registered. Here are some observations based on the final voter roll numbers shared by the Election Commission.

• 20.7 Lakh voters have been added to the 28 constituencies of Bengaluru, 3.16 lakhs have been added in the two months March – May 2018!
• From an average of 2.5 lakhs voters in 2015, Bengaluru constituencies have an average voter roll size of 3.25 lakhs.
• The smallest constituency is Shivaji Nagar with 1.96 Lakh voters, the largest is Bengaluru South, three times that size, with 6.03 lakhs. Mahadevapura follows with 5.04 lakhs.
• The total electorate was 70 Lakhs in 2013, and it is now 91 lakhs. While the 28 constituencies include parts of panchayat areas around the city, it is pertinent to note that the 2011 census of Bengaluru pegged the population within BBMP areas at 84.43 lakhs.

Commander PG Bhat, an expert in election-related data, who has been analysing the voter rolls for many years questions the accuracy of voter rolls:

Census india states that 41.1% of the population of India is below 18 years. To have 91 lakh voters, the population of Bangalore must be 1.55 crore, at least, if every eligible person has registered as a voter. Do we need a better proof that the voter lists bloated beyond belief?

Of course population of Bengaluru might have gone up in last seven years. The percentage of people who are single and in the city for earning their livelihoods might be more, so the question of having 41% population below 18 years may not arise here. Various websites take into account annual rate of increase in population and peg the population of Bengaluru between 1.23 crores and 1.24 crores. Even then, 91 lakh looks bloated.

Meanwhile, many voters who gave request to change their constituency during the special drives have got new voter cards, but their names continue to exist in the old constituency rolls as well. This just leads to doubts on the credibility of the voter roll numbers. This is important, because after the election, it will lead to a false analysis that concludes low voter turn out, as the base number on which it is calculated is inaccurate or bloated.

One apartment in Mahadevapura reported the presence of unknown persons in the same address where a few voters lived, and suspected that some of the entries might have been made by political parties to create fake voters. However, the Election Commission and BBMP officials ruled out any such issue.

Duplicate entries of same voters in a booth, across the booths and constituencies continue to haunt the voter list and affect its accuracy.

If you haven’t found your name yet in the new rolls, this link is where you can search for it.