EC reverts Form 6 to original format; SIR declaration limited to states where revision is underway

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Sep 30, 2026: The Election Commission (EC) has reverted the online Form 6 used for fresh voter registration to its original format in states where the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has been completed. The additional SIR-related declaration will now apply only in states where the revision is currently underway.

The change follows a decision taken by the full Commission on Saturday amid controversy over the additional declaration, which sought details of an applicant’s parents and grandparents and their linkage with previous SIR electoral rolls.

According to reports, Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised concerns over the additional requirement, including the fact that applicants could not submit Form 6 online without completing the declaration. They questioned the legal basis for modifying Form 6, which is prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.

Following the Commission’s decision, the additional declaration will be used only during an ongoing SIR exercise. New voters in states where the SIR process has already been completed will not be required to provide the additional mapping details relating to themselves or their parents.

The EC had earlier said that the additional declaration was introduced during the first phase of SIR in Bihar and subsequently used in later phases with the approval of the full Commission. The EC’s own SIR documents provide for Form 6 along with the prescribed declaration during the claims and objections period of an SIR.

The issue had also drawn attention after former Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale cited an RTI response from the Ministry of Law and Justice. He had sought information on whether the EC had proposed amendments to Form 6 or the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, to incorporate the SIR-related declaration concerning applicants’ parents or grandparents.

The Ministry’s Legislative Department responded that “no such information is available with this department.”

The EC’s voter services portal currently displays Form 6 separately from the SIR declaration, with the latter linked to the SIR process.