Most likely these applicants began applying but never submitted their applications fully. You can verify this by going to the Incomplete Application area:
In Recruitment go to Vacancies.
Find the vacancy in question, click Actions, and select Vacancy Overview.
On the next screen click Actions and select Incomplete Application.
In such cases, it is recommended to add the Submit Date column from the Applicant Master view and use it as a filter in a report, e.g. Is not blank.