More than 95,000 voters in Uttarakhand have been placed in the “ineligible” category during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, with Form 7 applications automatically generated for their proposed deletion from the voter list, the Chief Electoral Officer’s office has said.
The development comes ahead of the publication of the final electoral roll in the state on October 3. The Election Commission’s revision exercise has involved verification of voters whose records were flagged for discrepancies, with officials asking them to appear for hearings and submit the required documents.
According to the CEO’s office, around 1.73 lakh Form 7 applications have been received during the SIR process so far. More than 95,000 of these applications are linked to voters who were classified as “ineligible”, meaning they could not establish their eligibility during the verification process or did not appear before election officials.
How were the 95,000 Form 7 applications generated?
The CEO’s office said the Form 7 applications were not individually filed by all the affected voters or created manually by election officials.
Instead, when a voter involved in a logical discrepancy case failed to provide the required documents during the hearing, or did not appear personally or through a family member, the concerned Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) or Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO) could mark the voter as “ineligible” on the Election Commission’s online system.
Once that status was recorded, the system automatically generated Form 7 for deletion of the voter’s name from the electoral roll.
Form 7 is the prescribed form used for seeking deletion of a name from an electoral roll. Such deletions can relate to cases including death, duplicate registration, shifting of residence or other grounds of ineligibility.
What triggered the verification?
The SIR exercise involved scrutiny of electoral records where the Election Commission’s software detected what were described as logical discrepancies.
These discrepancies can include mismatches in names, unusual differences in the ages of family members, differences between the ages of parents and children and other inconsistencies identified during the database verification process.
Importantly, the identification of a logical discrepancy does not by itself establish that a voter is ineligible. The concerned voter is given an opportunity to appear before election officials and provide documents or other evidence to resolve the issue.
If the documents and explanation are accepted, the voter’s entry can be retained. If the voter fails to provide the required proof or does not attend the hearing, officials can mark the case as ineligible.
Final voter list to be published on October 3
The draft electoral roll was published on July 14, while the process of receiving and examining claims and objections is currently underway.
The final electoral roll is scheduled to be published on October 3. The CEO’s office has also clarified that being placed in the “ineligible” category during the SIR process does not permanently prevent a person from getting their name included in the electoral roll.
After publication of the final roll, eligible persons who are left out can submit Form 6 along with the documents prescribed by the Election Commission and seek inclusion in the electoral roll before the election.
The CEO’s office has also directed election officials to conduct a special campaign after the final roll is published to help eligible voters complete the inclusion process.
Congress raises questions over Form 7 process
The large number of Form 7 applications has triggered questions from the Congress, which has alleged irregularities in the SIR exercise.
Congress leaders have questioned how such a large number of Form 7 applications could be generated through the system and raised concerns about the role of EROs and AEROs in the process.
The party has also pointed to the concentration of Form 7 applications in several districts and constituencies and sought greater clarity on how the applications were generated.
The CEO’s office, however, has maintained that the SIR exercise is being carried out according to the prescribed rules and in a transparent manner. Officials have also said that recognised political parties are being briefed through regular meetings at the Assembly, district and state levels.
With the final electoral roll due on October 3, the coming days will be important for voters whose names have been affected by the verification process and for those seeking corrections or inclusion in the revised electoral roll.
