Telangana SIR: Form-6 rejections and Form-7 deletions unusually high during pre-SIR period

Form-6 is the application used by people seeking new voter registration. In Telangana, applicants filed it during the pre-SIR period, enumeration period, Claims & Objections phase, and afterward. Its outcome determines whether a person is added to the electoral roll.

Form-7 serves a different purpose. It can request deletion of a voter’s name or raise an objection to another person’s inclusion. Before the SIR exercise began, 5,13,375 Form-7 applications were filed, and 4,54,340 were accepted. These applications contributed to removals from the rolls.

Together, the two forms affect who appears on the voter list. The article reports that 5,08,057 of 5,81,273 Form-7 applications filed from January 1 onward were accepted. It also reports 2,43,643 rejected Form-6 applications, raising concerns that eligible voters may be left out.

Telangana received 10,77,450 Form-6 applications across 119 constituencies during the periods covered. Of these, 2,43,643 were rejected, according to information shared by the Chief Electoral Officer’s office. That is close to 23% when calculated against all applications received.

The more striking figure appears after pending applications are considered. A total of 1,61,214 Form-6 applications were still awaiting verification. Excluding those unresolved applications from the completed pool makes the rejection rate climb to 27%, which the article describes as unusual.

Rejections were especially concentrated in the pre-SIR phase. During that period, 1,92,574 of 5,20,331 applications were rejected, producing a 37% rejection rate. The figures matter because the article warns that rejected applications, along with deletions and draft-roll exclusions, could keep many genuine electors out of the final rolls.

A Special Intensive Revision, or SIR, is a large-scale process for checking and updating electoral rolls. It can involve adding eligible applicants, examining existing entries, and removing names considered ineligible. The article presents it as a sequence of administrative stages rather than a single event.

In Telangana, applications were processed during a six-month pre-SIR phase. The Enumeration Phase followed, before draft electoral rolls were published. After publication, voters could participate in the Claims & Objections phase, which ended on October 7, 2026. Further Form-6 applications were received through October 28.

The process affects the final roll through applications, verification, objections, notices, and hearings. The article reports 73,39,235 deletions during the Enumeration Phase and says 50,502 electors were found ineligible for the final rolls. Final publication was still being prepared, with some hearings and notices pending.

Voters were removed or excluded through several routes during the pre-SIR and SIR periods. Form-7 applications requested deletions or challenged inclusions. During enumeration, officials also assessed existing entries and determined whether electors could remain in the final roll.

Officials said Demographically Similar Entries and Photo Similar Entries were sifted through an application on ECINET software. However, the article notes that no explanation was given for 47,303 Form-7 applications rejected between January 1 and June 14. Among electors found ineligible for the final roll, 19,535 were rejected for logical discrepancies and 30,207 for not mapping themselves with the 2002 SIR rolls.

The scale was substantial. Enumeration-related deletions reached 73,39,235, while 4,54,340 Form-7 applications were accepted before SIR began. The article therefore warns that exclusions from all routes could exceed 80 lakh, though it also highlights unresolved notices and hearings.

The immediate consequence for a genuine voter is exclusion from the final electoral roll. If the name is absent when the roll is finalised, that person may be unable to participate as an elector in the election. The article identifies this as a high-likelihood risk after Telangana’s SIR.

The risk comes from several groups: voters omitted from draft rolls, names deleted during Claims & Objections, and applicants whose Form-6 requests were rejected. It reports 2,43,643 rejected Form-6 applications and 1,61,214 still pending verification. Together with deletions, these figures enlarge the pool of people who may remain outside the final list.

The article estimates that exclusions from pre-SIR and SIR deletions could exceed 80 lakh. It also says hearings were pending for some electors and that over a lakh had either not received notices or were still awaiting hearings. Those unresolved cases could affect final inclusion.

The process described in the article gives affected people several opportunities to seek inclusion or contest their status. People could submit Form-6 applications for new registration, including during the Claims & Objections phase. The Election Commission of India publicised that phase and urged new and deleted voters to get themselves registered.

Claims and objections are the main mechanism identified for challenging draft-roll outcomes. Electors found potentially ineligible could receive notices and take part in hearings. The article reports that 50,502 electors were found ineligible, while hearings were still pending for some and notices had not yet been served on others.

The process was not complete by October 28, 2026. Form-6 applications were still arriving, and unresolved verification, notices, and hearings remained. The article does not explain a separate appeal procedure after a Form-6 rejection or Form-7 deletion, so the exact formal remedy beyond these steps is not stated.

Accurate electoral rolls are essential because they identify the people entitled to participate in elections. A reliable roll should include eligible voters and exclude only those who should not remain listed. The Telangana figures show why careful verification matters: large-scale processing can affect millions of names.

The article reports 73,39,235 deletions during enumeration, 4,54,340 accepted Form-7 deletions before SIR, and 2,43,643 rejected Form-6 applications. If genuine voters are wrongly deleted or rejected, they may be absent from the final roll. If questionable entries remain, the roll may also fail to reflect the electorate accurately.

Such errors can affect representative outcomes by changing who is able to participate. The article does not measure any election result or prove that legitimacy was damaged. It does show that pending verifications, notices, and hearings make transparent review important before final publication, especially when exclusions could exceed 80 lakh.