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New Delhi: It is the government and parliament that are the sole competent authorities which decide on what changes, if any, are to be made in Form 6, the form Indians need to fill in order to demand inclusion in the electoral rolls. The Wire has tracked how the Election Commission, since its Special Intensive Revision drive started has quietly changed this crucial Form.

The Election Commission first added a new declaration to be submitted along with Form 6 during the Bihar SIR. Another page was added in the second round of the SIR. During the present round of SIR, the Form 6 itself has been changed for online applications.

Former Election Commission officials The Wire spoke to said that rules and forms can be amended only by the government and after amendment, this has to be approved by parliament. Altering Form 6 without this amendment renders the Election Commission’s actions “ipso facto illegal”. Transparency activists said that use of Form 6 both to enrol new voters and by those who failed to fill enumeration forms in Bihar, and the Election Commission’s failure to provide segregated data of how many Form 6 additions were new voters and those unable to fill enumeration forms, is only one among the “series of arbitrary and sudden shifts” characterising the SIR.

Former Election Commission officials The Wire spoke to said that rules and forms can be amended only by the government and after amendment, this has to be approved by parliament. Altering Form 6 without this amendment renders the Election Commission’s actions “ipso facto illegal”. Transparency activists said that use of Form 6 both to enrol new voters and by those who failed to fill enumeration forms in Bihar, and the Election Commission’s failure to provide segregated data of how many Form 6 additions were new voters and those unable to fill enumeration forms, is only one among the “series of arbitrary and sudden shifts” characterising the SIR.

While the Supreme Court has once again reiterated earlier this week, that the Election Commission is not an arbiter of citizenship, exclusion from the rolls resulting in the termination of state welfare benefits, even denial of passports, has made scrutiny into how new voters are being taken onto the rolls even more important.

Before June 24, 2025, Form 6 was simply an application that new electors used to apply for their inclusion in the electoral rolls. It required no proof of citizenship, and only needed Aadhaar details for authentication of entries, and self attested documents of age and ordinary residence. Such was the flexibility of the Form 6 that the guidelines also provided that if none of the documents sought in the Form as age and residence proof was available the applicant could enclose some other document in support of age proof by mentioning its name in the Declaration part of the Form following which the applicant was required to appear personally before Electoral Registration Officer or any other officer designated by him for verification. 

Since June 24, 2025 when the Election Commission of India announced SIR of the electoral rolls, not only has the accompanying declaration sought in Form 6 changed but the Form itself has undergone a change. The changes have come despite the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960 that flows from the Section 28 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 requiring that any change or amendment can only be........

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