The Election Commission of India (ECI) on 30 September reverted Form 6 — the voter enrolment form — to its standard format on the ECINET application portal for all states where the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise has concluded. The rollback means prospective voters in non-SIR states are no longer required to submit the additional declaration that had been attached to the form during the revision process.

The additional declaration, however, continues to remain in effect for the 13 states where the SIR exercise is still ongoing, according to the ECI portal.

What Form 6 Is and Why It Matters

Form 6 is the prescribed statutory form used for new voter registrations, both during the SIR process and for re-enlisting individuals whose names were removed during the enumeration phase. During the SIR, a separate Annexure-D was appended to the form, requiring applicants to furnish information that mapped them to their family's previous electoral roll entries — including details linked to parents or grandparents.

With the restoration of the standard format in concluded-SIR states, first-time voters can now register by submitting only their personal details and documents establishing age and residence — without providing historical family mapping information.

The Controversy That Forced a Rethink

The additional declaration triggered a significant internal dispute within the Election Commission. Election Commissioners Vivek Joshi and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu reportedly raised formal objections to making the declaration mandatory alongside Form 6. In their dissent, the two Commissioners contended that modifying the form prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, fell outside the ECI's mandate and that only the Law Ministry was empowered to suggest or effect such changes.

This is a rare instance of sitting Election Commissioners placing dissent on record over a procedural decision — underscoring the depth of the institutional disagreement.

ECI's Official Position

The Commission, in a statement issued on 26 September, maintained that Form 6 itself was never amended. It clarified that Annexure-D was merely attached to the form as a supplementary document during the SIR period — and was not a modification of the statutory form. The ECI further stated that its authority to add such a declaration was upheld by the Supreme Court in its judgment of 27 May.

The Commission also asserted that all orders relating to the SIR process had received the unanimous approval of all three Election Commissioners — a claim that sits in tension with the reported dissent by two of the three.

What Changes for Voters Now

In practical terms, the withdrawal of the SIR-linked declaration simplifies the enrolment process for citizens in states where the revision exercise is over. First-time voters are no longer required to produce historical family electoral roll data, removing what critics argued was an onerous and legally questionable requirement.

For the 13 states still under the SIR process, the declaration remains mandatory for the time being. As those exercises conclude, the ECI is expected to progressively restore the standard Form 6 format across those jurisdictions as well.