The Election Commission of India announced on Friday that it will limit each elector to 10 Form‑7 deletion requests in the entire claims and objections period, and to 5 per month during continuous updates.
The move comes after Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar of Karnataka slammed BJP‑linked voters for allegedly flooding the roll with bulk Form‑7s during the Special Intensive Revision, and demanded a criminal probe—an accusation that has already sparked FIRs in several constituencies. A resident of Bangalore’s Kengeri constituency said his name was challenged three times in a week, forcing him to wait anxiously for a reply.
The EC’s notice clarified that while political parties’ Booth Level Agents can submit up to 50 forms a day before the draft roll and 10 afterwards, the commission had never set a cap for individual electors filing physical forms, leaving the matter to Electoral Registration Officers.
Officials will now verify the identity of every applicant, insist on an original signature, and reject any form that falls short—anyone found to have knowingly submitted false statements will face Section 31 action under the Representation of the People Act.
Chief Electoral Officers have been instructed to circulate these guidelines to field staff and publicise them widely, with enforcement expected to begin as the next revision cycle rolls out in the coming weeks; the commission will monitor compliance and could revisit the limits if abuses persist.