Overview
- In mid-July the ECINET online Form 6 was updated so applicants must declare whether their own or their parents’ names appeared in the last Special Intensive Revision and supply assembly, booth and serial numbers if they did.
- The downloadable statutory Form 6 on the Election Commission website has not been changed and no Law Ministry gazette notification amending the Registration of Electors Rules has been published.
- The EC says the declaration began as an administrative instruction during Bihar’s SIR and has been extended for states and UTs where SIR has been held or is underway, with officials saying online submissions cannot proceed without completing the new section.
- The SIR process has already removed about 5.58 crore names from rolls and produced large state‑level deletions and thousands of pending appeals, raising worries that the new online requirement could further hinder first‑time voters, migrants and children of deleted electors.
- Election officials advise voters who cannot find legacy details to submit signed enumeration forms for inclusion and expect notices and verification later, while former EC officials, opposition MPs and UN rapporteurs have questioned the legality and transparency of changing a statutory form by portal instruction.