Election Commission defends voter list revision process amid deletion claims

The Election Commission has addressed controversies surrounding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process used to prepare voter lists. In Uttar Pradesh, the Chief Electoral Officer dismissed claims that 85,854 Form-7 applications were automatically generated to remove voters without cause, labeling such reports as “misleading.” The Commission stated that all actions followed established procedures, including notices, hearings, and investigations.

This follows criticisms from Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav, who questioned the integrity of the SIR process. Yadav alleged that the process resulted in the creation of millions of fraudulent votes, with some individuals appearing multiple times in certain constituencies, and called for the Commission to prove its impartiality.

In a separate legal proceeding before the Mumbai High Court, the Election Commission argued that the absence of a name from a draft SIR list does not equate to a voter being “removed.” The Commission explained that while a Special Summary Revision (SSR) merely updates existing lists, the SIR is a comprehensive process intended to reconstruct the voter list from scratch. The court has reserved its decision on a petition filed by a resident of Goa regarding missing names in the draft list.