Declaration part of Form 6 changed since SIR in Bihar

Why in the News

The declaration attached to Form 6, the application for fresh registration as a voter, has changed substantially across the phases of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. A first time applicant must now furnish details drawn from the last revision. The declaration itself was introduced during the first phase of the revision in Bihar. Two Election Commissioners flagged the change in separate notes and letters in May 2026 and in August 2026. The dispute is whether an addition of this kind could be made at all without the Union government amending the rule the form sits inside.

What is Form 6?

1. Purpose of the form: Form 6 is the application a person files for inclusion in the electoral roll as a new voter. The Election Commission of India (ECI) uses it for fresh voter registrations.
2. Statutory status: Form 6 is attached to the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960. It therefore carries the legal force of that rule and not of an administrative form.

What did the first phase declaration ask for?

1. Birth period brackets: The declaration used in Bihar sought to confirm the exact period of a new voter’s birth. The three brackets were birth before 1987, birth between 1987 and 2004, and birth after 2004.
2. Applicants born before 1 July 1987: Only the applicant’s own document was needed to prove date or place of birth.
3. Applicants born between 1 July 1987 and 2 December 2004: The applicant needed their own document along with one parent’s document, of either the father or the mother.
4. Applicants born after 2 December 2004: The applicant needed their own document along with documents for both parents establishing date or place of birth.
5. Parent who is not an Indian citizen: A copy of that parent’s passport and visa, valid at the time of the applicant’s birth, also had to be submitted.

How did the declaration change in the later phases?

1. Names in the last revision: In the second phase, a new voter filling Form 6 had to declare whether their own name or their parents’ names appeared in the last SIR.
2. Constituency, booth and serial numbers: The applicant also had to give the assembly constituency number, the polling booth number and the serial number at which those names appeared in the electoral rolls of the last SIR.
3. The third option on ECINet: An applicant without that information could choose a third option when filling the form online on the ECINet portal.
4. Mandatory in practice: The field was not formally marked mandatory. An applicant could not submit the online form without completing it.
5. Continuation into the third phase: The addition continued into the third phase of the revision. That phase was announced in May this year.

Who has the power to change Form 6?

1. Limits on the poll body: The ECI cannot redesign the form on its own, because the form is part of a rule it did not make.
2. The amending authority: Only the Union government can amend the rules, acting through the Ministry of Law and Justice. The rules are made under the Representation of the People Act, 1950.

What is the Commission’s account of the change?

1. Approval by the full Commission: The stated position of the ECI is that adding a separate declaration form with Form 6 and with Form 8, the form used for changing particulars, was approved by the full three member Commission when the revision began in Bihar. It was ratified again in the later phases.
2. The form itself unamended: The Commission’s account is that Form 6 was never amended and that only a declaration was added alongside it.
3. The change in the online module: The change in the online module was made so that a person filling the form does not have to sign electronically twice.
4. Judicial approval cited: The Commission cites a Supreme Court order of 27 May upholding the power to add the declaration form.

Conclusion

The declaration now asks a first time applicant for information from a revision they may never have been part of. What remains unresolved is whether an addition that operates as a condition of registration can be made without the Union government amending the rule it sits inside. The objections recorded inside the poll body put that question to the institution itself and not only to the courts. The next phase of the revision is where the answer will show.

Back2Basics: Special Intensive Revision

1. What it is: A Special Intensive Revision is a time bound enumeration, with Booth Level Officers visiting households in person. The routine annual exercise, the Summary Revision, carries no such door to door verification of every entry.
2. Legal basis: Section 21 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 authorises the poll body to carry out a special revision of the electoral roll at any time, for reasons recorded in writing.
3. Objectives: The exercise verifies the residence of every registered voter, removes deceased, duplicate and shifted entries, and registers citizens who have newly turned 18.
4. History: Intensive revisions have been carried out about 14 times. Eg. The exercises of 1983, 1995, 2002 and 2004, and the current cycle.

Matching Previous Year Question

“[2026, GS2, 10 marks] Is the right to vote a fundamental right? Discuss the position of the Election Commission of India while undertaking the revision of electoral rolls. Can it also examine the question of citizenship of voters?”