New Delhi: The Election Commission has restored the original online format of Form 6 for fresh voter registration in states where the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is not under way.
The change means new voters in states where SIR has been completed, or where it has not yet begun, will no longer have to complete the separate declaration linked to the revision exercise.
The EC announced the change after a meeting on September 26. In its official release, the poll panel said the declaration attached to Form 6 for SIR would be used during the SIR period, while forms prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960 would apply during non-SIR periods.
Form 6 is the statutory application used for adding a person's name to the electoral roll as a new voter. The standard form is prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.
During SIR, however, an additional declaration was introduced. It required applicants to provide information on whether they or their parents had been mapped to electoral rolls from the previous SIR.
The arrangement also applied to people seeking re-enrolment after their names were left out during the enumeration process.
According to The Hindu, the online version had required applicants to complete the declaration before they could submit Form 6, even though the declaration was linked specifically to the SIR exercise.
The newspaper reported that by September 29, the Election Commission had removed the fields seeking parents' and grandparents' details from the online Form 6. The SIR declaration was instead placed separately for applicants in states where the revision exercise was still under way.In states where SIR has concluded, the additional declaration has now been removed from the ECINET app and portal as well as the respective Chief Electoral Officer portals, leaving applicants seeking enrolment to fill only the statutory Form 6 prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.
The change follows objections reportedly raised by Election Commissioners Vivek Joshi and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu.
According to reports by The Indian Express, the two commissioners had raised concerns over the alteration of Form 6 in separate notes and communications in 2026. Their position was that changes to the statutory form could not be made by the Election Commission alone.
Joshi had objected to changes to the form on the grounds that a form prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, could not be modified without amending the rules. Sandhu had concurred with him.
After the SIR-related declaration was incorporated into the online Form 6 process on ECINET, Sandhu again objected, describing the change as 'unauthorised/illegal' and seeking its removal.
The Election Commission has maintained that the SIR-related declaration itself has been upheld by the Supreme Court.
In its public statements, however, the EC has maintained that Form 6 itself was not amended and that the declaration was an additional SIR-specific requirement. It has also stated that the declaration had been upheld by the Supreme Court in its judgment on the Bihar SIR.
In its September 26 statement, the EC said the declaration would continue to apply during SIR but that the forms prescribed under the 1960 Rules would be used during non-SIR periods.
The Commission also said that SIR had already been completed in 20 states and Union Territories and that young and first-time voters, as well as people whose names were left out during or after the exercise, could apply for inclusion through continuous updation.
The latest change therefore creates a distinction between the two processes: applicants in states where SIR is active will use the additional declaration, while ordinary voter registration outside the SIR period will follow the standard Form 6 process.
The Election Commission's September 26 decisions came amid wider questions over the functioning of its digital electoral systems and disagreements among its members. The Commission has said that differences raised during internal deliberations are part of its decision-making process and that final decisions are taken by the full Commission.
The September 26 statement maintained that orders relating to SIR had the unanimous approval of all three election commissioners.
(With inputs from The Hindu | The Indian Express | Election Commission of India | PTI)