The Election Commission (EC) has made it mandatory for new applicants seeking inclusion in the electoral rolls through online registration to provide details of their parents’ status in the last Special Intensive Revision (SIR)exercise, officials said.
The new requirement has been incorporated into Form 6, the statutory application used by first-time voters, newly eligible citizens and previously deleted electors seeking fresh enrolment.
Although the form has not been formally amended through a gazette notification, EC officials said the declaration has been introduced through administrative instructions and is now compulsory for all online submissions.
Mandatory Declaration Added to Online Form 6
According to officials, applicants will not be able to complete the online registration process unless they fill in the newly introduced declaration section.
The declaration, inserted between Parts J and K of the online Form 6 available on the ECINET portal, asks applicants to specify whether they or their parents were included in the electoral rolls prepared during the previous SIR exercise.
Applicants are required to choose one of the following three options:
- Their own name existed in the previous SIR electoral roll.
- The name of a parent or grandparent existed in the previous SIR electoral roll.
- Neither the applicant nor their parents were included in the previous SIR electoral roll.
Those selecting either of the first two options must provide details such as the Assembly constituency, polling booth number and serial number from the earlier SIR electoral roll. Applicants who do not have this information may choose the third option, although the ECINET portal does not clarify the implications of doing so.
Requirement Introduced After Bihar SIR Exercise
Election Commission officials said the declaration was first introduced during the Bihar Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise launched in June last year and has since been incorporated into voter registration procedures in states and Union Territories where SIR has been carried out.
“Daily SIR bulletins of Bihar showed the form filled along with declarations,” an EC official said.
Officials added that the declaration helps establish links between electors and reduces the number of supporting documents required from new applicants.
No Formal Amendment to Electoral Rules Yet
Under the existing electoral framework, Form 6 already requires applicants to provide details of family members residing with them, including their Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC) numbers.
The newly introduced declaration expands this requirement by seeking information related to previous SIR electoral rolls, despite the absence of any formal amendment to the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.
Nationwide SIR Exercise Continues
The latest development comes as the Election Commission continues its nationwide Special Intensive Revision exercise aimed at identifying eligible voters and removing duplicate, deceased, shifted, absent and foreign electors from electoral rolls.
The SIR process has already been completed in several states, including West Bengal, Bihar, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and is currently underway in other states and Union Territories.
The revision exercise has attracted attention after updated electoral rolls in several states resulted in the deletion of a large number of voter names, prompting questions about its implications for future applicants and the family members of those removed from the voter lists.
(With inputs from PTI)
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