Explained: EC adds parents' SIR details to new voter registration Form 6: What changes and why it matters

The Election Commission of India has reportedly added a new section to the online version of Form 6 seeking details about the applicant’s parents’ status in relation to the last Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Form 6 is used by first-time voters to register as electors.

The addition has been introduced without any corresponding amendment to the statutory Form 6, according to the Indian Express. Although the field is not marked as compulsory, users cannot proceed with the application unless they respond.

Form 6 is the statutory form for new voter enrolment.

What changes now?

The poll panel’s ECINET portal lets users submit forms for new electoral registrations, changes to existing electoral rolls, and deletions.

The version of Form 6 available for online submission now has a new section that requires applicants to indicate whether their parents were in the last SIR. This has been introduced under the section titled ‘declaration form.’

Those who want to enroll as new voters are required to provide the Assembly constituency number, the polling booth number (known as the part number), and the serial number under which their father or mother was registered in the last SIR.

This is a new feature that did not exist in the online version of Form 6 before.

What does it mean?

The new feature means that the Election Commission (EC) has made it mandatory to attach SIR details of parents for new voters filling Form 6 for inclusion in the electoral rolls through the online portal.

So, new voter applicants are now required to trace themselves or their parents to the last SIR. The introduction comes in the middle of the ongoing SIR of electoral rolls across the country.

As things stand, the Election Commission of India has completed the SIR in 10 states and three Union Territories since June last year. The exercise is currently underway in 19 other states/UTs, while the EC is yet to announce the SIR for Himachal Pradesh, Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir.

In Assam, the EC has decided not to hold the SIR till the National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise is completed in the state.

Was this feature introduced during SIR?

For all states where the SIR has been completed or is underway, except for Bihar, the EC’s online Form 6 submission process requires the applicant to fill out the new “declaration form” about their parents, inserted between existing parts of the form.

If the applicant’s parents were not in the last SIR, then they must select that option and provide their parents’ names and the Elector's Photo Identity Card (EPIC) numbers, if available

The declaration was added to the Bihar SIR, which was rolled out in June last year, an official told news agency PTI. New voters were made to file the declaration along with Form 6 in Bihar, the official said.

Introduced in Bihar SIR, says EC official

"Daily SIR bulletins of Bihar showed the form filled along with declarations," the official said, adding that the declaration was added through instructions, and Form 6 has not been amended.

"It helps in mapping electors and reduces the documents new voters need to submit along with the application," the official added.

What is Form 6?

A Form 6 is the Election Commission’s form for application for new voters, as per provisions of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960. The form is also available online. The physical form is addressed to the Electoral Registration Officer of the Assembly constituency or the ERO of the Parliamentary constituency, as applicable, in Union Territories without an Assembly.

Along with the form, the applicant has to provide a self-attested copy of a document proving date of birth, including a birth certificate, Aadhaar card, PAN card, driving license, Class X or Class XII certificate or passport..

What does the law say?

While Article 326 of the Constitution states that only Indian citizens above the age of 18 can be registered to vote, Form 6 does not require proof of citizenship. It does, however, include a self-declaration that the applicant is a citizen and if found otherwise, can face a fine or imprisonment up to one year or both.

The form can be filled online on the ECI’s ECINET portal or submitted to the ERO, who is usually a Sub-Divisional Magistrate or equivalent rank officer of the state government.

According to Article 326 of the Constitution, all adult citizens who are ordinarily resident in a particular Assembly constituency, unless otherwise disqualified by law, have the right to enrol as an elector

The Representation of the People Act, 1950, gives the Union government the power to make rules regarding the conduct of elections and the registration of electors.