Couldn't undo Goa voter deletions because…: EC cites Form 7 amid outrage

The ECI said its ECINet software had no rollback option to reverse voter deletions. In Goa, 97 voters flagged for "logical discrepancies" were later found eligible, but eight requests from the CEO's office between February 11 and 17 to enable the facility were not acted upon before the final roll was published.Election Commission of India controversyThe Election Commission has told India Today that the ECINet system does not have a rollback provision to allow Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) to reverse deletions once Form 7 is clicked to delete a voter’s name.The clarification comes amid questions over repeated requests from the Goa Chief Electoral Officer’s office to enable the facility after 97 voters, initially flagged for “logical discrepancies” during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), were found eligible for inclusion in the final electoral roll.During the SIR process, 97 voters in Goa were flagged by the system for “logical discrepancies” -- mismatches that arose while linking electors to their parents or grandparents in the electoral rolls from the previous SIR -- and were excluded from the electoral roll.Following a January 29 Supreme Court order, people flagged for such discrepancies were given an opportunity to submit documents or objections and be heard by EROs. In Goa, 649 electors came forward, and EROs and Assistant EROs examined their cases. In 97 cases, officials concluded that the electors had become eligible for inclusion in the final electoral roll and that the earlier decisions had to be reversed.However, the ECINet system did not have a “rollback” or reversion facility that would allow the EROs to reverse the earlier decisions and restore the voters’ names. According to an investigation by The Indian Express, the Goa Chief Electoral Officer’s office sent eight emails and requests between February 11 and 17 to senior ECI officials in Delhi, seeking the rollback facility so the names could be restored before the final electoral roll was published.The facility was not enabled in time, and the final roll published on February 21 did not include the 97 voters.Explaining the process to India Today, the Election Commission said ERO.net provides EROs with the rights to add or delete names when notices are served. If an ERO finds a person ineligible, the officer has to click on Form 7 for deletion.However, once the ERO clicks on Form 7 for deletion, there is no rollback provision, the ECI said. This, according to the poll panel, was what happened in the Goa case.The explanation, however, leaves a question over why repeated requests from the Goa CEO’s office to enable EROs to make corrections on ECINet were not acted upon after the 97 voters had been found eligible.- EndsPublished By: Sayan GangulyPublished On: Sep 24, 2026 16:36 IST