The Election Commission of India (ECI) has issued a clear statement on voter roll management, saying that ordinary citizens cannot delete anyone’s name online. This clarification came amid public debate and political controversy over alleged mass voter deletions in Karnataka’s Aland constituency raised by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
In its statement, the Commission emphasised that no deletion of voter names can be done online directly by any member of the public. While the ECI does provide an online portal for people to submit applications and forms related to voter registration, any removal of names from the electoral roll must go through a formal process and field verification.
Can voter names be deleted online?
According to the ECI, the proper way to seek deletion of a voter’s name is through Form 7, which can be submitted either online or offline. However, simply submitting a form online does not result in automatic removal. The application is sent to the local Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) and the Booth Level Officer (BLO), who then verify the facts on the ground. Only after verification and after giving the concerned voter a chance to respond can the name be legally deleted from the rolls.
The Commission highlighted these procedural safeguards to reassure voters about the integrity of the electoral rolls. It stated that “the right to vote is fundamental in a democracy, and any deletion is done strictly according to law.” The ECI also pointed out that it had itself filed an FIR in Karnataka in 2023 over “unsuccessful attempts” to delete names online, which were caught by its system and blocked. This, it said, was evidence that the checks and balances work.
Officials explained that the online facilities offered by the National Voters’ Service Portal (NVSP) are meant to make it easier for citizens to file applications and check their voter status but not to directly delete entries. The Commission has also been strengthening its backend security, introducing OTP verification and geo-tagging to ensure that only authorised staff can process changes after due diligence.
Political parties have been trading charges over alleged manipulation of voter lists. In his recent press conference, Rahul Gandhi alleged that thousands of names were deleted in Aland using software and external IP addresses. The ECI countered by saying these claims were baseless and that its system does not allow deletion without field checks.
What Rahul Gandhi alleged?
Rahul Gandhi, leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, presented detailed accusations at a press conference. He claimed that at least 6,018 names had been deleted from the electoral roll in Aland and that these deletions were carried out via software and from outside Karnataka. He also said there were suspicious timings of deletion filings, unusual patterns such as multiple deletions in very short time spans, and claims that booths strong in Congress were disproportionately affected.
He further said that the Karnataka Criminal Investigation Department (CID) had written 18 letters in 18 months to the ECI asking for logs like destination IPs, device information, OTP trails, and details of online submission of deletion requests. He demanded that the ECI hand over this data to the Karnataka CID.