India
oi-Ashish Rana
The Election Commission has added one more declaration in the online version of Form 6, for the new enrolment in electoral rolls for the first-time voters and new citizens. The new section asks fresh electoral to tell whether they or any of their parents, grandparents were part listed in the last SIR of electoral roll. According to a report of Indian Express, this move is questionable because the statutory version of Form 6 has not officially amended.
The Election Commission added a new declaration to online Form 6, asking new voters if they or relatives were listed in the last Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, following the nationwide deletion of over 5.58 crore names; the change was only applied to the online version.
New Declaration Added Only to Online Form
The new declaration is available on Election Commission’s ECINET portal but currently not available from the downloadable offline version of Form 6 on the website. This case has raised questions that the procedure has been followed to modify a statutory form.
This development has come after Election Commission’s SIR (Special Intensive Revision) has been reason to delete of more than 5.58 crore names from the electoral rolls. This has been a case in 10 states and three Union Territories from last year.
According to that report, over 27 lakh voters were removed solely alone in West Bengal, it happened before the assembly elections. Even the appeal against those delete voters were pending and the elections happened.
Applicants Must Provide SIR-Related Information
According to that report, this online Form 6 is now a dispute declaration between Parts J and K. The electoral. Applications will have to choose any of the three options for the application.
They must declare:
- Their own names was appeared in the electoral roll made during the last SIR.
- The name of Parents, Grandparents (Father, Mother, Grandfather, or grandmother) appeared in the last SIR.
- Neither they or their parents, grandparents were listed in the last SIR electoral roll.
If the applicant choose one of the two options given, they have give details included in Assembly constituency, also giving number and serial number from the last SIR.
If the applicant choose neither of the above two options, they are left with only one option. Although the declaration is not labelled as mandatory, users cannot submit the application without completing this point of section. However, this website doesn’t tell what choosing third option mean for application.
Why Bihar and Assam Are Not Included
The report mentions that the this option is only visible to applicants in state or UT where SIR is completed or being done in 2025-26. Although, Bihar has been removed from this exercise where SIR happened in June last year, While Assam has been also left out due to Election Commission denied doing SIR in the state.
