Politics

ECI Limits Individual Form 7 Applications to 10 per Election Cycle

By Swati Gandhi

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has instructed chief electoral officers (CEOs) in all states and Union Territories to cap the number of Form 7 applications an individual can submit. The move aims to reduce misuse of the form, which allows voters to challenge proposed additions to electoral rolls or request removal of existing entries. The directive follows repeated cases where electors filed bulk Form 7 objections on unsubstantiated grounds, causing inconvenience to genuine voters and creating administrative burdens for election staff.

Under the new guidelines, an individual may file a maximum of 10 Form 7 applications during the entire claims‑and‑objections period, and no more than five per month during continuous updation. The ERO must reject applications that miss deadlines, formats or submission procedures, and each form must contain complete details and the objector’s original signature; signature stamps are not allowed. EROs must verify the applicant’s identity against the electoral roll, notify the objector, hear their case, and record a separate statement for each application before deciding. If grounds exist, the person whose entry is challenged must also be heard before a final order.

The decision comes a week after a BJP leader in Karnataka, Ravi Patil of the Belagavi North Assembly constituency, was charged with abusing Form 7 to delete the names of about 200 Muslim voters from Veerabhadra Nagar during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. An FIR was registered at the Belagavi Market Police Station.

Previously, Booth Level Agents appointed by political parties could submit up to 50 forms daily before the draft electoral roll is published during the SIR exercise, and 10 per day after publication. Individual electors had no clearly defined numerical limit for offline submissions. The Manual on Electoral Rolls, 2023 already prohibited bulk filings by individuals and required the ERO to personally cross‑check objections when one person challenged more than five entries, but the number of physical forms accepted was left to the ERO’s discretion, creating uncertainty for officials.