Amid SIR row, Karnataka poll body chief clarifies no voter removed over Form 7

The Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer has said no voter has so far been deleted from the draft electoral roll merely because an objection was filed, amid allegations of mass deletions and errors during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).

CEO V Anbuk Kumar said that whenever a Form 7 objection seeking deletion is filed, the concerned Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) must issue notices to both the objector and the voter, conduct a hearing and verify the documents before taking a decision.

“Just because objections have been filed, no name has been deleted so far from the voter roll,” Kumar said, adding that the process would be carried out strictly according to the rules.

The clarification comes amid reports of voters finding their names missing or marked incorrectly in the Karnataka draft rolls, including allegations of people being wrongly shown as dead or deleted. The CEO said such cases would have to be examined by the concerned EROs.

Kumar also acknowledged that the Election Commission had received a large number of Form 7 applications seeking deletion.

As of October 4, a total of 91,278 Form 7 applications had been received, he added.

He said there was no legal definition of a “bulk” request, but the rules prescribe how many Form 7 applications an individual or Booth Level Agent can submit.

One person or BLA can submit up to ten Form 7 applications in a day and up to 50 during the SIR exercise. Applications beyond the permitted limit can be examined and rejected by the ERO.

The CEO said EROs had also been directed to investigate allegations of knowingly false declarations in Form 7. Under Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, action can be taken after an enquiry under Rule 20 of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.

Kumar, however, said his office had not registered any case so far over such false declarations, while some FIRs filed by private complainants in connection with alleged bulk applications were sub judice.

He also clarified that Form 8 cannot be used to delete a voter’s name, as it is meant for corrections and changes such as name, address and other details.

The CEO said around 43 lakh voters had been issued notices during the SIR process, with 99.4 per cent served and 85 per cent of hearings completed. The remaining cases are being processed, with the final electoral roll scheduled to be published on October 27.

Importantly, the CEO said the electoral roll is now under continuous updating, meaning voters who remain left out can continue to submit Forms 6, 6A, 7 and 8. A special enrolment drive is also planned after the final SIR roll is published.- Ends