EC Withdraws Form 6 Change Previously Flagged as ‘Illegal’ by Two Commissioners

Four days after announcing that the standard statutory voter enrolment form would be used outside the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) period.

The Election Commission on Wednesday removed the additional SIR-related declaration from the online Form 6 on its ECINET portal in states where the revision process has been completed.

The move follows objections raised by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi over the insertion of the additional declaration into Form 6 without a formal amendment to the statutory form. The issue was first reported by The Indian Express in July.

The EC had said on September 26 that during the non-SIR period, the forms prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, would be used. Following that announcement, the additional declaration was removed from ECINET for states where the final SIR electoral rolls have already been published. However, it remained visible in states where the SIR exercise is still underway.

The additional section had been inserted between Sections J and K of the online Form 6. It asked new voter applicants whether their own name, or that of a parent or grandparent, appeared in the electoral roll prepared during the previous SIR. Applicants were also asked to provide the relevant booth and serial number where applicable.

The development is significant because the downloadable statutory version of Form 6 available on the EC website had not contained the additional declaration, even though the online version on ECINET did. The discrepancy had raised questions about the authority under which the change was introduced.

According to The Indian Express, the two Election Commissioners had objected to the change, describing it as unauthorised and saying it required approval through the prescribed legal process. The report noted that changes to the statutory voter enrolment forms are governed by the relevant electoral laws and rules.

The EC’s latest move effectively restores the standard Form 6 on ECINET in states where the SIR process has concluded, while the additional declaration continues to apply in states where the revision exercise remains in progress.