CEO debunks claims of large-scale voter deletions

Hyderabad: Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) C Sudharsan Reddy on Friday said there was no truth in rumours of large-scale deletion of votes in the state. He clarified that the Enumeration Forms (EFs) of 73,39,235 voters were not received by the stipulated deadline of August 10, 2026, and hence, their names were not included in the draft electoral roll.

The CEO issued the clarification in response to reports alleging large-scale voter deletions. He said that, as per the Election Commission of India (ECI) guidelines, Booth Level Officers (BLOs) visit every household and distribute EFs containing pre-printed details of existing electors. Voters are also provided with the facility to submit their forms online. Every existing elector is required to submit the EF either online or offline.

BLOs revisit households to collect the filled-in forms and digitise them. Forms that could not be collected are categorised as relating to absent, shifted, duplicate or deceased electors, based on inquiries with neighbouring voters, and the details are digitised accordingly.

Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) prepare the draft electoral rolls by including the names of all electors whose duly filled-in EFs have been received.

The CEO said EFs from 2,64,87,213 electors had been received, and their names were included in the draft roll. However, the forms of 73,39,235 electors were not received by the August 10 deadline, resulting in their exclusion from the draft roll.

He said voters who could not submit their forms within the stipulated period could file Form 6 along with a declaration during the claims and objections period, which ends on October 7, 2026. Special camps were held at every polling station on Thursday and Friday to enable left-out voters and first-time and young electors to submit Form 6 applications for enrolment.

The CEO said the ECI was committed to ensuring that every eligible elector was included and no ineligible entries remained on the electoral roll. He added that every effort was being made to retain or include all eligible citizens.

He said the contention that 73,39,235 electors had been deleted without being given an opportunity to respond was incorrect and far from the truth.

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K Chandrasekhar

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