95,000 Form 7s auto-generated as voters in Uttarakhand tagged ‘ineligible’ in SIR

Auto-generated Form 7 applications were generated for around 95,000 voters marked “ineligible” for the final electoral roll in Uttarakhand after they failed their logical discrepancy hearings or didn’t show up, the chief electoral officer said on Thursday.

These auto-generated applications form more than half of the 173,000 Form 7 applications received during the special intensive revision (SIR) in Uttarakhand. The Congress has alleged large-scale irregularities in the Form 7 applications, which are used to seek the deletion of a name from the electoral roll.

The SIR draft roll of Uttarakhand was released on July 14, dropping over 826,000 people, or more than 10% from the pre-SIR roll. The draft roll of 7.9 million people also flagged 1.9 million people for logical discrepancies. These people appeared for hearings before election authorities with their papers.

Also read: Objections within Election Commission: The change to Form 6, and how it may trouble first-time and many 'deleted' voters

95,000 voters marked ineligible after hearings

Chief election officer (CEO) BVRC Purshottam said all of the 95,000 voters had logical discrepancy cases.

“When such voters fail to provide the required documents during the hearing or they could not attend the hearing personally or through their family members, such cases, the concerned electoral registration officer (ERO) or assistant electoral registration officer (AERO) marks them as ‘ineligible’ through ECI-Net, following which Form 7 is automatically generated by the system and marked for deletion,” he said.

The office said the hearing of claims and objections was underway based on the draft roll published on July 14. The final electoral roll will be published on October 3. The last date for claims and objections is September 28.

Also read: Arvind Kejriwal demands action against CEC Gyanesh Kumar over SIR

Logical discrepancy flags generated by software

Officials have previously said logical discrepancy notices are auto-generated by the Election Commission software, ERONET, for mismatches in names, difference in the age of siblings or between parents and their children, and for parents having more than six children. A logical discrepancy is a software-generated flag and does not, by itself, establish ineligibility.

When a person is called for a logical discrepancy hearing at a specific date, time and place, they have to present documents or other relevant proof establishing their identity, residence, age or electoral-roll status, depending on the discrepancy in front of the ERO or AERO.

If the ERO/AERO is satisfied, the discrepancy is resolved in the elector’s favour and the electoral roll entry is retained or accepted. Else, the person’s electoral-roll entry is marked for deletion under Form 7.

Form 7 is used to seek deletion of a name from the electoral roll. It can be filed in cases involving a deceased voter, duplicate registration, shifting of residence or other ineligibility.

The CEO office clarified that people listed under the “ineligible” category would still be able to submit Form 6 – used by new electors – after the publication of the final electoral roll on October 3.

Also read: From SIR deletions to Form 6 and voter database: Election Commission's point-by-point rebuttal amid row

Congress alleges misuse of Form 7

Suryakant Dhasmana, senior vice-president of the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee and AICC member, on Thursday raised concerns over what he described as large-scale filings under Form 7 in five assembly constituencies of Udham Singh Nagar district, including Kichha, Gadarpur, Khatima, Nanakmatta and Rudrapur.

Last month, the Uttarakhand Congress raised concerns over the ongoing SIR of electoral rolls, alleging large-scale misuse of Form 7 to seek deletion of voters, particularly in constituencies considered the party’s strongholds.

Manoj Rawat, former Congress MLA and a member of the party delegation that recently met Uttarakhand Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) over the allegations, said, “There has been a grave misuse of Form 7. An objection was filed against our MLA Furkan Ahmed in the name of a person who has the same name as the MLA. However, the person has submitted an affidavit saying he did not file the objection.”

Dhasmana also alleged that over 6,500 objections had been filed by just five individuals in Udham Singh Nagar district.

Also read: Election Commission officials reject report of internal disquiet: ‘SIR, all other decisions unanimous’

CEO office says revision follows rules

The CEO’s office said regular meetings were being held with recognised political parties at the assembly level by EROs, at the district level by district magistrates or district election officers (DEOs), and at the state level by the CEO. Information related to the revision was being shared during these meetings, it said.

The CEO’s office also said the SIR was being conducted in accordance with rules and in a transparent manner.