Election officials in Karnataka have submitted more than 61,000 Form 7 applications requesting the removal of names from the state's electoral rolls without providing the mandatory justifications for these deletions. These filings represent one-third of all applications processed during the recent claims and objections period.
Under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, every objection to an entry in the electoral roll must be accompanied by a specific reason to be considered valid. However, the forms submitted by Electoral Registration Officers and Assistant Electoral Registration Officers were left blank in the section requiring these details.
The volume of filings spiked significantly following the official conclusion of the claims and objections window on September 23. Between September 24 and October 22, officials submitted over 60,800 applications, including 10,105 filed on the final day designated for the disposal of notices. The Bommanahalli Assembly constituency recorded a particularly high number of these filings, accounting for 4,095 of the 5,757 total applications submitted in that area.
While officials have maintained that the forms were auto-generated using data concerning voters who have shifted, are deceased, underage, or listed as duplicates, the absence of documented reasons has prompted concerns regarding the legitimacy of the process. Furthermore, sample audits indicated that some individuals targeted for deletion had already been removed from the rolls after the deadline had passed. It remains uncertain whether the required hearing notices were issued to the affected voters prior to the removal of their names.
