Hyderabad:Amid reports of a large number of voter deletions across the country during ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral roll, researchers have cautioned that activists who pushed for erasing the names of electors in other states may also pressure poll officials in Telangana to do the same via Form 7 that seek deletions.

Some 29,000 Form-7 applications for voter deletions have been filed in the state. “This is not a small number. There is no mechanism with the Election Commission to check who is filing these Form-7 applications. We need to analyse if the local authorities are proactive in efficiently handling the SIR. There always remains a chance as appeals may land at any time (for deletions),” said Saber Ahmed, lead researcher of Kolkata-based Sabar Institute which is studying the SIR process.

By Tuesday, a total of 4.43 lakh Form 6 new voter applications were filed, while Form 8 for corrections stood at 3.49 lakh. The number of Form 6(A) (online) was 6,200, besides the 29,000 Form 7 applications for deletions.

Local SIR activists have also expressed concern to the poll officials regarding deletions of votes during the crucial ‘claims and objections’ phase. “No Form 7 objection should be entertained unless the prescribed requirements are fulfilled, including complete particulars of the objector, the person objected to, the relevant electoral-roll entry and the specific ground and reasons for the objection,” said advocate M.A. Mujeeb Ayyub, founder of Adalah (Access to Justice Network), a civil society organisation.

Another social activist, S.Q. Masood, demanded that ECI’s own public guidance recognised that the list of claims and objections should be available on the website of the concerned chief electoral officer and at the office of the electoral registration officer (ERO). “The status of an individual Form 7 objection should be accessible to the voter concerned, including the date of filing, ground of objection, notice issued, date of hearing, status of enquiry and final order. The person concerned should not be required to repeatedly approach the BLO / ERO office merely to ascertain the status of a proceeding affecting his or her electoral entry,” Masood demanded, in his letter to Chief Electoral Officer A. Sudharshan Reddy.

The total number of voters found eligible for final publication stood at 48,88,079, from the total 92,88,181 voters who received notices, following publication of the draft electoral roll. Poll officials said they were yet to deliver 4,36,007 notices. The total number of hearings had crossed 61,87,444 by Tuesday.

Meanwhile, poll officials expedited the hearing of SIR notices. Within a week the number of notices marked as ‘hearing date lapsed’ which were 44 lakhs, were brought down to 30 lakh by Tuesday.

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