Explained: EC adds parents' SIR details to new voter registration Form 6: What changes and why it matters
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has introduced a new declaration in the online version of Form 6 — the form used for fresh voter registration — requiring applicants to state whether they, their parents, or their grandparents were included in the electoral roll prepared during the previous Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of that constituency.
The requirement applies only to applications submitted through the ECINET portal; the statutory (offline/paper) Form 6 prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960 has not been amended to include this field.
If a parent or grandparent's name appeared in the previous SIR roll, the applicant must furnish the assembly constituency, polling booth (part) number, and serial number under which that name appears.
If no family member's name was included, the applicant must instead provide the parents' names and, where available, their EPIC (Elector Photo Identity Card) numbers.
The field is not formally marked mandatory, but the ECINET portal does not allow an applicant to proceed with submission unless a response is provided, making it a de facto mandatory requirement introduced through administrative instruction rather than rule amendment.
Form 6 and the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960
Form 6 is the statutory form prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960 (framed under the Representation of the People Act, 1950) for a person seeking to be enrolled as a voter for the first time, or on shifting residence to a new constituency. The Rules specify the format and required particulars of Form 6; any change to the substance of the form is expected to follow rule amendment, not administrative instruction alone.
Key Details
- Registration of Electors Rules, 1960 framed by the Central Government in consultation with the Election Commission, under powers derived from the Representation of the People Act, 1950.
- Section 21 of the RPA, 1950 empowers the ECI to direct preparation and revision — including "special revision" — of electoral rolls "for reasons to be recorded."
- The Rules distinguish "intensive" revision (roll prepared afresh, house-to-house enumeration) from "summary" revision (roll updated with additions/deletions to the existing roll).
Because the new parents'-SIR declaration exists only on the ECINET portal and not in the Rules-prescribed Form 6, it raises a procedural question of whether a portal-level mandatory field can validly restrict access to a statutory right without a corresponding rule amendment.
Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Electoral Rolls
An SIR is a comprehensive, house-to-house re-verification of the electoral roll — as opposed to a routine "summary revision," which only updates additions/deletions/corrections to an existing roll. The Election Commission's power to order such a revision derives from Section 21 of the RPA, 1950 and the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, which allow the roll to be revised "intensively" when directed.
Key Details
- Intensive revision involves rolls being "prepared afresh," similar to first preparation of a roll, generally through door-to-door verification by Booth Level Officers (BLOs).
- SIRs are distinct from the routine annual "summary revision" carried out before every roll's final publication.
- Linking new registrations to an applicant's presence (directly, or through parents/grandparents) in a prior SIR roll is intended as a cross-verification mechanism against the earlier intensively-verified roll.
The new Form 6 field operationalises a linkage between fresh voter registration and the previous SIR exercise, using family lineage in the earlier roll as one basis for verifying a new applicant's claim to enrolment.
Article 326 — Universal Adult Suffrage and the Right to Vote
Article 326 of the Constitution establishes that elections to the Lok Sabha and state Legislative Assemblies shall be on the basis of adult suffrage, with every citizen who is not less than the prescribed age (18 years) and not otherwise disqualified under the Constitution or any law entitled to be registered as a voter. This constitutional right is operationalised through the Representation of the People Act, 1950 and its subordinate Rules, which govern the enrolment process, including Form 6.
Key Details
- Article 326 makes voting eligibility a constitutional entitlement, subject only to disqualifications the Constitution or Parliament may lawfully prescribe (e.g., non-citizenship, unsoundness of mind, corrupt practices, non-residence).
- The Election Commission is established under Article 324, which vests in it the "superintendence, direction and control" of elections, including preparation of electoral rolls.
- Any additional documentary burden imposed on first-time registrants must be traceable to a valid rule or law, since Article 326 eligibility cannot be curtailed by executive/administrative instruction alone.
The debate over whether ECINET's mandatory-in-practice field is procedurally valid turns on whether it functions as an additional eligibility condition on the Article 326 right to register as a voter, imposed without corresponding amendment to the Registration of Electors Rules.
- The parents'-SIR declaration applies only to online applications via the ECINET portal, not the offline statutory Form 6.
- Applicants must supply assembly constituency, part (polling booth) number, and serial number if a parent/grandparent's name featured in the prior SIR roll.
- If no family member featured, applicants must supply parents' names and EPIC numbers where available.
- Statutory basis for Form 6 and electoral roll revision: Representation of the People Act, 1950 (Section 21) and Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.
- Constitutional basis for voter registration eligibility: Article 326 (adult suffrage); Election Commission's rule-making and superintendence powers: Article 324.