EC retains mandatory SIR declaration for fresh voter enrolment

EC retains mandatory SIR declaration for fresh voter enrolment.

NEW DELHI: Those applying for fresh enrolment as electors through Form 6 in locations other than the 12 states and UTs where special intensive revision (SIR) is currently underway will no longer need to attach a declaration mapping themselves or their relative to the electoral rolls from the last SIR. In the states and UTs where SIR is going on, Form 6 will continue to be accompanied by a mandatory declaration by the applicant listing their or their relatives' electoral rolls details from the last SIR, apart from their father's, mother's and spouse's names and their respective EPIC numbers, if available. A statement put out by the three-member Election Commission Saturday justified the continued requirement of new electors to submit the declaration along with Form 6 as part of SIR, saying "the declaration attached to Form 6 for SIR has been upheld by the Supreme Court". For the non-SIR period, the forms applicable as per the Registration of Electors Rules 1960 will be used, the commission added. The declaration was first added to Form 6 in the SIR order issued for Bihar on June 24, 2025. Sources told TOI the system will revert to the pre-SIR Form 6 with immediate effect in non-SIR states/UTs, including the states due for polls early next year. As exclusively reported by TOI on Sept 25, a special summary revision will be undertaken in these poll-bound states later this year. Both election commissioners, SS Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, had in May and Aug, respectively, sent internal notes to the deputy election commissioner concerned, opining that Form 6 can only be amended by the govt. This was after they had approved of the declaration attached to the form as part of three SIR orders. While election commissioner Vivek Joshi raised objection to the revised Form 6 format on May 16 this year, Sandhu endorsed it on Aug 13, well after Supreme Court had upheld the SIR process. Their concerns were later echoed by opposition parties led by Congress, which alleged that Form 6 was changed "unilaterally" by CEC Gyanesh Kumar. The EC statement Saturday, however, put on record that all three SIR orders - issued on June 24, 2025, for Phase 1 Bihar; on Oct 27, 2025, for Phase 2 in 12 states; and on May 14, 2026, for the ongoing Phase 3 in 19 states/UTs - were unanimously approved by the CEC and the two commissioners.

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To eliminate any scope for doubt, EC added Saturday's statement was also issued with the "approval of the full commission". The declaration required to be attached to Form 6 itself has undergone a change since it was introduced in the SIR order for Bihar. The Bihar declaration required those seeking fresh enrolment to declare their or their parents' date and place of birth and submit proof of the same from the list of 11 documents attached to the SIR order, though this list was not exhaustive. This declaration was revised for subsequent phases of SIR, introducing mapping to the last SIR instead of seeking proof of citizenship.