‘System auto generated them’: Karnataka poll officials after 61,059 Form 7s filed without specific grounds

Election Commission officials in Karnataka have said the electoral system auto generated 61,059 Form 7 applications bearing the digital signatures of Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs) when voters could not be reached during hearings on notices issued over unmapped records or logical discrepancies.

The officers, listed as the objectors in the applications, said the forms were generated during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, with the voters concerned marked as “ineligible” after they could not be contacted during the hearings.

(AFP/Representative)The explanation comes amid a controversy over why none of the applications specified the grounds for seeking deletion of voters' names. The officers, listed as the objectors in the applications, said the forms were generated during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, with the voters concerned marked as “ineligible” after they could not be contacted during the hearings.

The reason field was left blank in all 61,059 applications. Form 7 is used to object to the inclusion of a name in the electoral roll or seek its deletion on prescribed grounds, including death, permanent shifting and duplicate entries.

The controversy over the 61,059 applications comes a day before Karnataka's final electoral roll is scheduled to be published on Tuesday. According to an official familiar with the process, the applications appeared to have been generated in cases where voters' details could not be mapped to the previous electoral roll or showed logical discrepancies.

“These applications appear to have been generated as part of the verification process for voters whose records could not be mapped or who had discrepancies in their details. When the field verification process could not establish contact with a voter, the case may have been escalated through the system, which generated a form 7 without citing reasons,” the official said.

The official said a discrepancy in the records or an unsuccessful attempt to contact a voter should not be treated as proof that the person was ineligible to remain on the electoral roll. “The important distinction is between a case being flagged for further verification and a formal application seeking deletion of a voter's name.,” the official said.

The explanation leaves unanswered why the reason field remained blank in every application and how the forms were subsequently handled. The Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, prescribe the procedure for filing objections to electoral roll entries.

The grounds cited and the steps followed by election officials are therefore central to determining whether the applications were processed in accordance with the rules. The applications were concentrated in Bengaluru, with BBMP South accounting for 10,374 forms.

In at least 26 Assembly constituencies, election officials filed more Form 7 applications than voters or other applicants. Karnataka chief electoral officer V Anbukkumar has previously said that filing a Form 7 application does not automatically result in a voter's name being deleted.