The Election Commission of India (ECI) has issued a new directive to all state and Union Territory chief electoral officers, implementing a numerical cap on the number of Form 7 applications an individual can submit. Form 7 is a legal provision that allows registered voters to challenge the inclusion of names in the electoral roll or request the removal of existing entries. Under the updated guidelines, individuals are limited to 10 such applications during the electoral roll revision period and five per month during routine continuous updates.
This policy shift follows widespread concerns regarding the misuse of the process, where bulk objections were filed on unsubstantiated grounds. According to the poll panel, these practices have caused significant inconvenience to genuine voters and created an unnecessary administrative load on field-level election officials. The issue gained prominence recently following an incident in Karnataka, where a political leader faced an FIR over allegations of using Form 7 to seek the removal of roughly 200 voters from the electoral rolls.
Previously, while Booth Level Agents had established submission limits, there was no clearly defined cap for individual electors filing offline, often leaving decisions to the discretion of Electoral Registration Officers (EROs). The current 2023 Manual on Electoral Rolls already required EROs to cross-check objections if one person challenged more than five entries, but the new, stricter limits aim to provide more clarity and consistency.
Under the existing rules, EROs are required to verify the identity of the objector against the electoral roll and ensure every form contains complete details and an original signature. Furthermore, EROs must hold hearings for each objection and grant the person whose entry is being challenged an opportunity to be heard before a final decision is rendered. Forms that fail to adhere to prescribed deadlines or submission procedures must be rejected by the authorities.
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