New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has clarified that its Special Intensive Revision (SIR) orders, including provisions requiring an additional declaration alongside Form 6 for new voters, were approved unanimously by the three-member Commission.
The clarification comes amid reports of differences within the poll panel over the treatment of Form 6 and the additional declaration seeking information about the applicant’s or parents’ linkage with the electoral roll of the previous SIR.
According to officials cited by multiple reports, the SIR order for Bihar issued on June 24, 2025, the subsequent order covering 12 States and Union Territories issued on October 27, 2025, and the May 14, 2026 order covering another 19 States and UTs all contained the provision for an additional declaration along with Form 6/Form 8. The ECI maintains that all these orders received the approval of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.
ECI: Form 6 itself has not been changed
The central clarification from the poll panel is that Form 6, the statutory application used by a person seeking registration as a new elector, has not been amended.
Instead, the ECI says that an additional declaration, referred to as Annexure D, has been prescribed alongside the existing Form 6 during the SIR process.
The declaration concerns the applicant’s or their parents’ presence in the electoral roll of the last SIR. The ECI has argued that the arrangement allows applicants who submit the declaration to avoid furnishing additional supporting documents.
The Commission had earlier stated in its SIR instructions that a person applying for registration as a new elector would be required to submit Form 6/Form 8 along with the additional declaration.
Why the Form 6 issue became controversial
The clarification follows reports that Election Commissioners Vivek Joshi and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu had raised objections over the manner in which the additional SIR-related information appeared in the online Form 6 process.
A report by The Indian Express said the online ECINET version of Form 6 displayed a section seeking information about the applicant’s or parents’ presence in the electoral roll of the last SIR, even though the statutory Form 6 had not formally been amended. The report also noted a difference between the online interface and the downloadable physical version of the form.
The ECI has drawn a distinction between changing the statutory Form 6 and requiring a separate declaration to be submitted with Form 6. According to the Commission, it is the latter arrangement that has been used during SIR.
Supreme Court reference cited by ECI
The Election Commission has also referred to a May 27, 2026 Supreme Court judgment concerning the SIR process. ECI officials said the court had upheld the Commission’s authority to prescribe the additional declaration as part of the SIR exercise.
The Commission has maintained that the SIR process is traceable to Section 21(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, read with Article 324 of the Constitution.
In an earlier official communication, the government also said that electors who could not submit their enumeration forms during the house-to-house phase could seek inclusion through Form 6 along with the prescribed declaration during the claims-and-objections period.
SIR being implemented in phases
The nationwide SIR exercise has been rolled out in phases. Bihar was covered in the first phase in 2025. The second phase covered 12 States/UTs, while the May 2026 order expanded the exercise to 19 States/UTs.
The ECI’s May 14 order said the third phase would cover 16 States and three Union Territories, with the process designed to cover the country except Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh at that stage. The Commission said the remaining areas would be scheduled after considering the Census process and weather conditions.
The poll panel has said the objective of SIR is to ensure that eligible citizens are included in electoral rolls while ineligible names are excluded.
EC insists decisions were unanimous
The latest clarification also comes against the backdrop of reports about differences among the three Election Commissioners over certain SIR-related decisions.
The ECI has categorically said that all decisions concerning SIR were taken with the approval of the full Commission. Officials have specifically maintained that the relevant SIR orders and the provision for the additional declaration were unanimously approved.
Thus, the immediate issue is not a formal amendment of Form 6, according to the ECI, but the use of an additional declaration alongside the existing form during the SIR process. The distinction is significant because Form 6 is prescribed under the electoral registration rules, while the ECI says the additional declaration flows from its SIR orders.
