As part of Karnataka's ongoing Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, notices had reached upwards of 43.43 lakh voters by the time the Chief Electoral Officer's office released its update, with Form 7 deletion applications numbering 84,900 in the period through to 1 October.

Among the 84,900 Form 7 applications logged in the period running from 16 June through to 1 October, not a single one had been submitted on the grounds of opposing a proposed name inclusion, according to the statement.

Allegations that Form 7 applications were being submitted in bulk to remove the names of eligible voters prompted Karnataka's Chief Electoral Officer, V Anbukkumar, to order proceedings against any applicants whose electoral declarations were found to contain deliberate falsehoods. A protest sit-in outside the Chief Electoral Officer's office, joined by Chief Minister D K Shivakumar alongside Cabinet members and MLAs, took place just hours before this development, with those gathered calling for an FIR to be registered and a formal inquiry into the reported misuse of Form 7 during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision.

Anyone wishing to challenge a name's proposed addition to an electoral roll, or to request that an existing entry be removed, does so by submitting Form 7.

According to a statement from the Chief Electoral Officer's office, voter rolls as of 2 October listed a total of 4,49,81,740 registered electors across the state — broken down into 2.23 crore male voters, 2.26 crore female voters, and 2,864 transgender voters — with 43,82,306 notices having been dispatched to electors throughout the state. Of the notices generated, 43,43,137 reached their intended recipients, while 39,169 remained undelivered — a completion rate of 99.11 per cent, according to a statement from the CEO's office.

Out of the notices that went out, hearings tied to 35,60,833 of them — roughly 82 per cent of the total — have concluded, leaving 7,82,304 still awaiting resolution.

Figures released by the Chief Electoral Officer's office show that, over the period stretching from 16 June to 1 October, the office logged 8,85,952 Form 6 submissions, 4,648 under Form 6A, 84,900 under Form 7, and 11,78,028 under Form 8, bringing the combined tally of all forms processed during that window to 21,53,528.

Among the districts surveyed, Bidar submitted the greatest volume of Form 7 applications — 5,915 in total — while Shivamogga accounted for 5,760 and Dakshina Kannada contributed 4,746. Among the districts reporting Form 7 application tallies, Tumakuru logged the highest count at 4,350, trailed by Vijayapura at 3,788 and Belagavi at 3,539, while Bengaluru Urban contributed 3,026 filings, Mysuru 2,828, BBMP North 1,689, BBMP Central 1,356, BBMP South 1,429, Bengaluru Rural 1,354, and Kalaburagi 1,040.

According to a notice from the CEO's office, claims and objections are to be filed and the notice phase concluded by October 22, with a final hearing scheduled ten days earlier on October 12. Following requests from registered and recognised political parties, the CEO's website now carries rosters of individuals who received notices under the 'No Mapping' and 'Anomalies' classifications.

Electoral Registration Officers received instructions from Anbukkumar to pursue legal proceedings against any applicants found to have deliberately submitted false statements or declarations within Forms 6, 6A, 7, and 8. Any deletions from the electoral rolls would proceed through a formal inquiry conducted under Rule 20 of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, drawing its legal authority from Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950.

Voters whose names no longer appear in the same section of the draft electoral roll as before — a shift attributed to polling station rationalisation and the re-serialisation of voter entries — are advised by the CEO's office to look up their details via their EPIC number on voters.eci.gov.in or through the ECINET mobile application. The alphanumeric code printed on a voter's photo identity card forms what the electoral system designates as the EPIC — short for Elector Photo Identity Card.

The Congress party has directed sustained scrutiny at the Election Commission, raising formal objections over alleged tampering with voter rolls and calling into question the conduct of senior officials within the poll body. Voter roll updates are being conducted by the Election Commission under procedures set out in applicable law, the body has stated.