With thousands of names deleted from electoral rolls during phases 2 and 3 of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR ) using auto-generated Form 7s digitally signed by Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), it has now emerged that this exercise is being carried out by State poll authorities without the Election Commission of India (ECI) issuing any written protocol or Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).
In Delhi for example, The Hindu has reported earlier that EROs and AEROs were named as ‘objectors’ for many forms filed against electors in the draft roll. The auto-generated forms came with the officers’ digital signatures. All these electors had been flagged for notices over either a ‘logical discrepancy’ or ‘no mapping’ in the draft roll published on August 31. Reports have said that more than 87,000 names in Uttar Pradesh and more than 95,000 in Uttarakhand were deleted through this method.
The ECI’s software, ERONet, automatically generated these Form 7s when officials deleted voters during the SIR hearings, according to several State electoral officials The Hindu spoke with.
The ERO who is the adjudicator in the process can, however, delete a name found ineligible. 2024, there is no provision for the ERO to file a Form 7, according to the Manual on Electoral Rolls.
However, according to sources, there was no written communication or Standard Operating Procedure (SoP) which was shared with the election authorities in the States in this regard.
