Most of the electors struck off draft rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) can now seek re-inclusion without filing Form 6, the Election Commission of India (ECI) said on Friday. The Form 6 route remains available, it clarified, but it is not the only option.
Form 6 is the statutory application under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, that eligible citizens use to be added to the electoral roll for the first time. False statements are punishable under Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, with up to a year in jail, a fine, or both. Friday’s order comes after weeks of scrutiny in the Supreme Court of Delhi’s roll, where the draft published on August 31 removed about 4.7 million names from roughly 14.5 million electors. On October 28, the bench hearing the case questioned why persons deleted from the draft roll should use Form 6 to register as new voters when they were on the rolls previously. Instead, it suggested that such voters be permitted to restore their names through Form 8, which is intended for address-related changes, or through the enumeration process. But ECI still persevered with Form 6. On November 3, ECI clarified that deleted voters could file Form 6 to register as new voters. The poll panel said that voters whose names did not figure in the draft SIR rolls could submit Form 6 to seek fresh inclusion in the final voters’ list, even if they were enrolled previously. Citing a Delhi High Court’s October 14 judgment, the ECI said the apprehension of making a false declaration was misplaced. A division bench of its Goa bench, comprising Justices Valmiki Menezes and Amit Jamsandekar, held on Thursday that existing voters who have only changed addresses cannot be compelled to file Form 6, which is meant for first-time registration, and must be allowed to file Form 8 even while the SIR is underway.
Because electors left out of the draft who had been on the rolls for years had to seek inclusion afresh, although ECI clarified that doing this would not attract any punishment, the form became contentious during the SIR. Because a person was absent during enumeration, it also asked ECI to devise a mechanism to reach omitted voters, observing that the right to vote cannot be forfeited merely. Its declaration states that the applicant is enrolling for the first time and that their name is not already in any other constituency.
A day before the ECI’s letter, the Bombay High Court also weighed in.
Electors who have not moved must submit the signed enumeration form with a statement explaining why they missed the earlier round, in person, through a family member, or online with e-sign. They must submit the form, along with a statement and address proof to the electoral registration officer (ERO) of their new constituency. For homeless people, a BLO’s field verification report will suffice as proof of residence.
Those who shifted within the state need not file Form 8.
They can use the “Book a call with BLO” facility on the ECI website and app.
