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In States where the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is not currently ongoing, the Election Commission (EC) has reverted to allowing the online submission of Form 6, which is used for fresh voter registration, without having to complete an attached declaration that had been brought in for the SIR.
While Form 6 is normally used for new voter registrations, during the SIR process, it was also used for re-enlisting those who had been deleted during the enumeration phase. A separate declaration had been added to the physical form regarding the mapping of self or parents with electoral rolls from the period of the previous SIR.
However, while filling the form online, applicants could not submit the online form without completing the declaration attached.
It is this issue that Election Commissioners Vivek Joshi and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu had reportedly flagged in separate notes and letters in May 2026 and August 2026 respectively.
Form 6 is attached to the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960. Only the Central government, through the Ministry of Law and Justice, has the power to amend the Rules, and by extension, Form 6.
On Saturday (September 26, 2026), the EC said in a press release that the declaration accompanying Form 6 would now be used only during the period of the SIR.
The Hindu found that on Tuesday (September 29), the EC had removed the fields requiring parents’ and grandparents' details in the online Form 6. Also, the declaration was found in a separate category, which was to be filled only by those in States where the SIR process was still ongoing.
EC officials maintain that adding a separate declaration form with Form 6 and Form 8 (used for changing particulars) had been approved by the full commission when the SIR process began in Bihar last year and was again ratified in the second and third phases.
They said that Form 6, in itself, was never amended and that the declaration was merely added along with it. According to the officials, the issue with the online submission of the form occurred due to changes made by the IT department so that a person filling the form does not have to e-sign twice — both in Form 6 and separately in the declaration. This meant that it had to be filled for the form to be submitted. EC officials also said that the power to add the declaration form was upheld by the Supreme Court on May 27, 2026.
In States where the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is not currently ongoing, the Election Commission (EC) has reverted to allowing the online submission of Form 6, which is used…