UP SIR: ECI software generated 85,854 voter deletion forms without reasons, report says

New Delhi: The Election Commission of India’s (ECI) software generated 85,854 voter deletion forms in Uttar Pradesh without specifying reasons for removing names from the electoral rolls, an investigation by The Reporters’ Collective reported on October 9.

The findings have raised questions over the conduct of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), with Uttar Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa acknowledging key aspects of the investigation while leaving several questions unanswered.

The Reporters’ Collective reported that the ECI’s ERONET software automatically generated Form 7 applications seeking voter deletions without recording the reasons for the proposed removals.

According to the investigation, election officers were made to sign these forms despite the absence of specific grounds for deletion.

Minutes after the report was published, Rinwa responded on X, calling it ‘falsehoods and inaccuracies’ and promising a rebuttal later that day.

However, in a video released that evening, the UP chief electoral officer acknowledged the software-generated forms, the publication reported.

He did not explain why most of the forms allegedly lacked reasons for deletion or address the finding that some applications contained single-letter entries such as “A”, “N”, “H” and “E” in the section meant to specify the grounds for removing voters.

The Reporters’ Collective pointed out that the law and the ECI’s revised SIR rules require recording a proper reason for deletion.

UP SIR report flags bulk deletion attempts involving Muslim voters

The investigation also reported more than 200 instances of attempts to delete Muslim voters’ names in bulk in Uttar Pradesh.

Responding to the findings, Rinwa argued that the number of voters involved was insignificant compared with the state’s electorate.

He said complaints involving multiple Form 7 applications covered about 4,700 names, compared with Uttar Pradesh’s total electorate of 13.39 crore voters.

The CEO cited these figures to defend the state's SIR process. However, the investigation raised concerns about how the state handled voter additions and deletions ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, expected in February-March.

According to The Reporters’ Collective, its scrutiny of the state’s electoral rolls uncovered questionable additions and deletions it had not seen in other states so far.

Earlier report flagged 16.18 lakh voter additions

The latest investigation follows an earlier report by The Reporters’ Collective, which found that details of 16.18 lakh voters added to Uttar Pradesh’s electoral roll had been kept out of the public domain.

According to the publication, Rinwa initially did not respond to emailed questions about the findings.

After the report was published, he maintained that the additions followed the law and the ECI’s internal instructions.

The Reporters’ Collective subsequently obtained those internal instructions and alleged that the Uttar Pradesh CEO’s office had failed to follow them.

The latest findings have renewed questions about compliance with the rules governing voter list revision, particularly the requirement to document the grounds for removing a name from the electoral roll.

Under the ECI’s SIR rules, an election officer initiating a suo motu inquiry into a voter considered doubtful on the draft roll must issue a ‘speaking order’. This requires a written order explaining the proposed deletion.

ECI caps voter deletion objections at 30 per month

The Election Commission headquarters has not publicly backed the Uttar Pradesh CEO’s response to the latest investigation, The Reporters’ Collective reported.

On October 9, the ECI ordered that an individual could file no more than 30 objections seeking voter deletions per month.

The move came after the commission removed the cap on bulk applications to delete names under the SIR protocol.

The investigation also found that the 85,854 applications were filed after the claims-and-objections period ended. The law requires voters to be informed of the grounds for their proposed deletion.

Defending the process, Rinwa said voters whose names were proposed for deletion through these Form 7 applications had been issued notices specifying the grounds for their hearings.

These included cases categorised as ‘unmapped’ or involving ‘logical discrepancies’ in voter records.

However, the CEO did not disclose how many voters fell under either category.

The Reporters’ Collective noted that these figures were absent from both his last press conference and the press release issued after the final electoral roll was published.

With Uttar Pradesh preparing for Assembly elections expected in February-March, the findings have put the state’s voter list revision process under scrutiny. 

The reasons recorded in the deletion forms, the number of voters affected by different categories of discrepancies and the extent to which established procedures were followed remain central questions in the controversy.