Pune: A total of 18,748 Form 7 applications seeking deletion of names from the draft electoral roll were filed in the state till Oct 8, four days before the Oct 12 deadline for claims and objections under the SIR process.The deletion requests are just for 0.02% of Maharashtra’s 7.72 crore electors. “Every objection would be verified before a decision is taken,” a senior election official said.The state election commission earlier alerted all collectors and commissioners about the possibility of large-scale filing of Form 7 applications. The same instructions were communicated to them during an online meeting last week.Thane recorded the most Form 7 applications at 1,361. The fewest (125) were in Washim. Pune, having around 62.1 lakh electors on the draft roll, recorded 425 deletion requests.These forms are part of the overall 11,38,055 applications the state chief electoral officer’s office received between Aug 31 and Oct 8. The final electoral roll is scheduled to be published on Nov 16.Just filing of Form 7 never leads to name deletion. The initial onus of proof in such cases lay on the objector under Para 6.4.2 of the Manual of Electoral Roll-2023, another election official said.Names in the draft electoral roll are prima facie considered valid, subject to submission of necessary documents in cases involving anomalies and unmapped entries. Only an elector from the assembly constituency concerned can file Form 7 to object to an inclusion or seek deletion of a name.“Decision on every Form 7 must be taken after properly verifying the name as per the provisions applicable to the SIR exercise. Under Rule 20 of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, read with Rule 19, the electoral registration officer (ERO) must conduct an appropriate inquiry where required. The ERO can call the claimant, objector or the person whose name is challenged for a personal appearance and evidence on oath. The directions cover objections alleging that an elector is not an Indian citizen,” a senior election official said.“The Jharkhand episode brought safeguards around Form 7 into sharper focus. In Godda, officials had flagged bulk submissions and ordered an inquiry. A booth-level agent was arrested,” said an ERO from Pune city.In Karnataka’s Aland constituency, election officials found only 24 out of 6,018 online Form 7 applications genuine after verification.
