Mass deletions of ASDDs carried out by ECI without due process through automatically generated Forms 7 signed by ERO

The Election Commission of India (ECI) and its local functionaries could have been the biggest wholesale voter-cutter in Telangana and elsewhere in the country without following the prescribed procedure under the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of Electoral Rolls (SIR).

Thousands of voters who were grouped under the “Absent, Shifted, Dead, and Duplicate” (ASDD) categories were deleted by the concerned Electoral Registration Officers on behalf of the ECI without following the procedure laid down in the Electoral Registration Rules, 1960.

We learn from reliable sources that the Form-7s relating to all these deletions were automatically generated by the ERONET software, with the names of EROs listed as respondents.

At the end of counting phase in Telangana, a total of 73,39,235 voters were shown in ASDD categories, most of them as Absent and Shifted.

According to the officials, all the voters who did not collect/return the enumeration forms were listed under ASDD categories, even though the deaths were accepted only after receiving death certificates or statements of family members as proof. Duplicate voters were identified by running the ERONET software for demographically and photographically similar posts. A total of 45,18,963 voters were marked as ‘Permanently Shifted’ while 11,25,546 were shown as Absent/Untraceable voters.

However, there is no confirmation for most of the voters listed under the Absent and Shifted categories as very few booth-level officers actually went from house to house, distributing census forms and collecting them back.

Most BLOs, especially in urban areas, set up their workplaces in one central location and distributed forms only to those who came to collect them. At the end of the enumeration phase, the BLOs simply sent messages marking those who did not collect/return the forms as either absent or shifted.

Later, with a tap on the mobile application, auto-generated Form 7s digitally signed by the ERO were generated and voters were deleted before the draft voter lists were published.

Shortly after the counting phase, the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer displayed the ASDD list on its website and asked voters who had been struck out to re-apply for registration by submitting Form 6. When seeking their version, officials from the Chief Electoral Officer’s office said that the ERO is legally empowered to carry out suo-motu deletions under intensive review.

The Electoral Registration Rules 1960 authorize EROS to delete names where the names of dead, displaced and other persons have been included in the rolls as a result of inadvertence, error or other reason.

EROs are, however, obliged to prepare a list of names and data on voters and post them on the bulletin boards of their offices together with a notice of objections. Only after consideration of possible oral or written objections can the ERO make a decision on deletions.

As per ECI guidelines, Form 7 deletions must be shown on the prescribed Form 10 for at least seven days before the ERO can take a decision. Form 10 is a consolidated report that lists all Form 7 objections filed each day during the notice period.

In addition to sharing with political parties, the guidelines also mandate the display of names in ERO offices and on the CEO’s website.

However, the ASDD list was not displayed in the prescribed format of Form 10 every day, nor were voters allowed to object before deletion.

Each ASDD list in the constituency is overwritten with a line saying that the list of non-collectable forms has been prepared by the BLO in consultation with Booth-level agents, members of the public and others. Those who object can submit an “application” with a copy of the Aadhaar card, the guidelines say, but do not specify what kind of application needs to be submitted.

A list of ASDDs was displayed on the CEO’s website along with the ability to review the minutes of the meeting signed by the BLA that authorize the polling station for ASDD voters. In several such cases, irrelevant documents, Aadhaar cards and unrelated photographs were uploaded instead of entries signed by the BLA.

Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee Election Cell Chief P. Rajesh Kumar claimed that even in cases where the BLAs signed the minutes, the signatures were obtained before filling the format with ASDD numbers.

“Several EROs and ERs got signatures towards the end of July even as enumeration was going on. The BLAs signing the forms were not aware of the purpose,” said Mr. Rajesh Kumar. He brought the matter to the notice of Chief Executive Officer C. Sudharsan Reddy on 1 August 2026 through a letter, but by then the forms had reportedly been filled and signed in a large number of constituencies.

Seeking his version about the arbitrary deletions, Mr. Sudharsan Reddy said that the ASDD list is displayed on the website and also at the ERO offices to receive objections from voters. Asked whether votes would be restored in case voters raised objections, he said Form 6 would have to be submitted for fresh enrollment in any case.

In an earlier case, while talking about deletion of Form 7, the CEO mentioned that mere filling of the form does not result in deletion, without ground verification.

If the ERO is satisfied with the validity of the objection in form 7, it may, after the expiry of the 7-day notice period, allow the deletion without further investigation.

If the ERO is not satisfied, it must notify the objector and the person whose name is proposed for deletion. The notice can be served personally, by registered post or pasted at the person’s residence, said Mr. Sudharsan Reddy.

The ERO will process the Form 7 request with the order of appearance according to its findings during the hearing and investigation and then delete the vote.

In the case of ASDD deletions, this procedure was enabled, which indicates that the ERO were fully convinced of the necessity of deletion and took full responsibility for their decision.

Published – 16 Oct 2026 09:52 IST