Guwahati: Individuals applying online for inclusion in the electoral rolls will now have to disclose whether they or their parents were listed in the electoral rolls prepared during the last Special Intensive Revision (SIR), following a new mandatory requirement introduced by the Election Commission (EC), officials said.
The requirement has been added to the online version of Form 6, the statutory application used by first-time voters, newly eligible citizens and people seeking fresh enrolment after their names were removed from the electoral rolls. While the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, and the prescribed Form 6 have not been amended through a gazette notification, EC officials said the declaration has been made mandatory through administrative instructions for all online applications.
Applicants filing Form 6 on the ECINET portal must complete the additional declaration before they can submit their application. The new section has been inserted between Parts J and K of the online form.
Under the revised process, applicants must specify whether their own name appeared in the electoral roll prepared during the previous SIR, whether a parent or grandparent was included in that roll, or whether neither they nor their immediate family members featured in it.
Those selecting either of the first two options are required to provide details of the earlier electoral record, including the Assembly constituency, polling station and serial number from the previous SIR electoral roll. Applicants who cannot furnish these details may select the third option, although the online portal does not indicate how such cases will be treated.
Election Commission officials said the declaration was first introduced during the Special Intensive Revision carried out in Bihar, which began in June last year. It has since been incorporated into voter registration procedures in states and Union Territories where similar revision exercises have been undertaken.
According to officials, the additional disclosure is designed to help establish links with earlier electoral records while reducing the number of supporting documents that new applicants may need to submit.
Form 6 already requires applicants to provide details of family members living at the same address, including their Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC) numbers. The latest addition extends this requirement by seeking information related to electoral records from previous SIR exercises, even though the statutory rules governing the form remain unchanged.
The development comes as the Election Commission continues Special Intensive Revision drives across the country to update electoral rolls by identifying eligible voters and removing duplicate, deceased, shifted, absent, and foreign electors.
SIR exercises have already been completed in Bihar, West Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, while similar revisions are underway in several other states and Union Territories. The process has drawn attention following the deletion of a large number of voter names from electoral rolls, raising questions over its impact on future voter registrations and the electoral status of family members linked to deleted entries.