No objection led to deletions so far: CEO

Karnataka has received 91,278 Form 7 applications during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, but not a single voter has been removed on the basis of an objection so far, Chief Electoral Officer V Anbukumar said on Monday.

The applications, received between June 16 and October 4, have become a key part of the revision process, with the Election Commission facing questions over objections seeking deletion of names from the rolls. Anbukumar said an application alone cannot result in deletion. The concerned Electoral Registration Officer must conduct an inquiry before deciding whether a name should be removed.

“If any name is to be removed from the draft voters list, the ERO should issue a notice for inquiry. The person who filed the objection and the concerned voters should be called for questioning. The officer can take a decision on whether the name should be removed or not only after examining the documents,” Anbukumar said.

He said the procedure is governed by Rules 16 to 20 of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960. “Thus, not a single voter’s name has been removed so far. I have clearly instructed all the EROs to take necessary action. If the officers are convinced that action is necessary after the inquiry, they will take action as per the law,” he said.

Form 7 is used to object to a proposed inclusion or deletion of a name in the existing electoral roll. The CEO’s office said no Form 7 applications had been received objecting to proposed inclusion of names.

Bidar recorded the highest number of Form 7 applications at 5,953, followed by Shivamogga with 5,936 and Dakshina Kannada with 5,534. Tumkur received 4,568 applications, Belgaum 4,002 and Vijayapura 3,808.

Bengaluru City recorded 3,365 applications, Mysore 3,090 and Kalaburagi 1,067. BBMP North received 1,842, BBMP South 1,707, BBMP Central 1,659 and Bengaluru Rural 1,485.

Anbukumar also directed EROs to take legal action against applicants who intentionally make false statements or declarations in Form 6, Form 6A, Form 7 or Form 8. The CEO’s office said such action should follow an inquiry under Rule 20 of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, and may be taken under Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950.

The Form 7 figures come as the wider SIR process moves towards its final stages. As of October 5, the state had 4,50,29,916 registered voters, including 2.23 crore men, 2.26 crore women and 2,863 third gender voters.

The election authorities have generated 43,82,313 notices for voters whose records fall under the non mapping, non matching and anomalies categories. Of these, 43,55,818, or 99.40%, had been distributed, leaving 26,495 yet to be delivered.

“Inquiries have been completed in 36,89,063 cases, or 84.69%, while 6,66,755 remain pending,” he said.

Across Forms 6, 6A, 7 and 8, the election authorities received 22,05,171 applications between June 16 and October 4. These comprised 9,10,732 Form 6 applications, 4,677 Form 6A applications, 91,278 Form 7 applications and 11,98,484 Form 8 applications.

The CEO’s office said the names of people issued notices under the no mapping and anomalies categories have been published on its website following requests from registered and recognised political parties.

The final hearing in the revision process will be held on October 12. October 22 is the last date for disposal of claims and objections and completion of the notice stage.

The election authorities also said voters who cannot find their names in the same section in which they were previously registered should search using their EPIC number on the voters.eci.gov.in website or through the ECINET mobile application.