The declaration accompanying Form 6, which was introduced for the first time during the first phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar last year, has undergone substantial changes in the later phases.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) uses Form 6 for fresh voter registrations.

In Bihar, the declaration form was sought to confirm the exact time period of the birth of a new voter, whether it was before 1987, between 1987 and 2004, or after 2004, based on which the prospective voter had to submit documents.

For those born before July 1, 1987, only the applicant’s own document was needed to prove date and/or place of birth; for those born between July 1, 1987, and December 2, 2004, the applicant needed their own document, along with one parent’s document (either father’s or mother’s); and for those born after December 2, 2004, the applicant needed their own document, with documents for both parents (father’s and mother’s) establishing date/place of birth.

If either parent was not an Indian citizen, a copy of that parent’s valid passport and visa (valid at the time of the applicant’s birth) also had to be submitted. This was keeping in mind citizenship laws.

Change in second phase

In the second phase of SIR, new voters filling out Form 6 had to declare whether their or their parents’ names appeared in the last SIR. They also had to give the Assembly constituency number and polling booth number and the serial number at which the names appeared in the electoral rolls of the last SIR.

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While filling the form online in the second phase, if the applicant did not have this information, they could choose the third option, on the ECINet portal. Though the field was not formally marked “mandatory”, in practice applicants could not submit the online form without completing it. This addition in the form continued in the third phase, which was announced in May this year.

It is this issue that Election Commissioners Vivek Joshi and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu flagged in separate notes and letters in May 2026 and August 2026, respectively.

Form 6 is attached to the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960. Since it is part of an official rule, it legally counts as part of that rule — the ECI cannot redesign it on its own. Only the Union government (through the Ministry of Law and Justice, since these rules come under the Representation of the People Act, 1950) has the power to amend the rules, and therefore Form 6 too.

With complete approval

ECI officials maintain that adding a separate declaration form with Form 6 and Form 8 (used for changing particulars) had been approved by the full three-member commission when the SIR process began in Bihar last year and was again ratified in the second and third phases.

They said that Form 6 in itself was never amended; only a declaration was added. What happened in the online module for filing the form was that the IT department made changes so that a person filling the form does not have to e-sign twice while doing it and can proceed to the declaration having signed in only once, they claimed.

The ECI officials also said that the power to add the declaration form was upheld by the Supreme Court on May 27 this year.

The Election Commission of India officers in charge of Special Intensive Revision have rejected the demand for scrutiny and deletion of around 2,598 votes sought by BJP leader and MLA Abhay Patil in Belagavi North constituency.

M. Karthik, Belagavi city corporation commissioner and the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) has replied to the MLA’s letter, saying that there was no legal provision for bulk scrutiny or deletion of votes under the SIR process.

He has, however, clarified that Booth Level Agents (BLAs) could file objections to the inclusion of doubtful electors through the concerned Booth Level Officers (BLOs).

In a letter dated September 19, Mr. Patil had alleged that the BLAs from his constituency had detected over 2,598 bogus voters. He had given details of the number of suspect voters along with their part numbers and booth numbers.

B.K. Hariprasad, MLC and KPCC chairman, had objected to this, saying Mr. Patil had no locus standi in sending a letter to SIR officials seeking bulk deletion of voters. He alleged that the BJP MLA was targetting Muslim voters only to help his cause in the next elections.

‘Not seeking bulk deletion’

Speaking to reporters in Belagavi on Friday (September 25, 2026), Mr. Patil said that he had not sought bulk deletion of voters.

“I have not asked for deletion of names of any elector. I am only asking SIR officers to conduct an inquiry, look into allegations of inclusion of bogus voters, scrutinise the Forms 6 and 7 submitted by suspect voters and delete their names if found false. I am not only a MLA, but also the Booth Level Agent number 1 for my constituency. I have a right to do so. I also have a responsibility towards ensuring clean elections and a duty to express solidarity with BLA 2 and my other associates who have gone door-to-door to trace bogus voters,’’ he said.

Mr Patil said that Deepak Patil, the BLA 2, and his team, had found some false voters and filed objections through Form 7 to the respective BLOs. “But the BLOs had not acted on those objections. I wrote the letter only to remind them of their duties. Along with my letter, I have submitted a proof of all objections filed by the BLAs in my constituency,’’ he said.

Mr. Patil also denied Mr. Hariprasad’s allegations. “I know the rules well. I am a four-term MLA and I am only exercising my right.” He said that he would appeal to the ECI if his objections were not considered by local SIR officers.

While more than 80.62 lakh names were deleted from the draft roll after being marked as shifted or absent, and these voters were asked to fill Form-6 to be included in the final rolls, only 6.66 lakh Form-6 applications have been received so far — less than one in 10 of those marked as shifted or absent have applied for inclusion. The figure also includes applications from new voters. 

While 24,328 Form-6 applications were received on September 19, during the second campaign when BLOs were instructed to help the public with the inclusion and correction process, 6,42,670 applications were received between June 16 and September 17. 

While people can fill Form-6 even after the final rolls are published, the current figures suggest that the number of net additions could be low in the final roll. 

When The Hindu spoke to several voters who had been marked as absent or shifted, many said they did not know about the deadline (September 23) or how to fill the form. Several said their applications encountered multiple glitches when they tried to apply online, while others said they did not know whether their names were marked as shifted or absent in the ASDDO list. 

Voters marked as permanently shifted or absent account for the largest share of ASDDO deletions, with more than 80.62 lakh names marked under the two categories out of 1.07 crore deletions. More than 15 lakh were marked absent because they were not present during the enumeration phase, while the remaining had a different address in the current and previous rolls, something many said was common as rising rents and changing jobs have made it difficult to stay in one place in the city. Many also said they were wrongly put under the ASDDO category and did not know about it, as they returned the enumeration form as directed. 

Even in States where the SIR has been completed, the pattern suggests that the net additions have not been enough to offset the large-scale deletions. The claims and objections process, along with fresh registrations, brought some voters back into the rolls, but the total electorate still remained substantially lower overall. 

For instance, Bihar, where the SIR was first conducted, had 7.89 crore electors before the exercise. Although 21.53 lakh eligible electors were added through Form-6 during the revision, the final roll had about 7.42 crore electors — nearly 47 lakh less than before the SIR. Moreover, the figures do not establish how many of those added through Form-6 were electors who had been excluded from the draft roll and subsequently restored. 

Since the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, voter lists of 17 States/Union Territories, where Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is under way in its third phase, have shrunk by 15.7% as per the draft rolls published by the Election Commission of India (ECI).

The cumulative total of voters in these States/UTs fell from 35,50,50,008 during the LS polls to 29,93,00,115 in the draft rolls published after the SIR. Maharashtra recorded the largest drop in absolute numbers, losing 15,896,198 electors or 17.08% in the draft phase, while Delhi and Chandigarh registered the sharpest dips in percentage at 35.89% and 31.84% respectively.

Since the LS polls and till the cut-off date for the Enumeration Phase of SIR, these States/UTs had added around 57.75 lakh voters, which took the cumulative total of voters to 36,08,07,394. Out of it, now 6.15 crore voters have been deleted as per the draft rolls.

The additions after the LS polls were heavily driven by Maharashtra which added 47.92 lakh voters, while 10 other States, including Haryana added about 9.83 lakh.

Delhi was among the remaining Six States/UTs which saw a decrease in the number of voters after the LS polls. While the national capital had 1,52,14,638 voters during LS polls, its pre-SIR rolls had 1,45,10,299 electors, a drop of more than 7 lakh. It was followed by Uttarakhand (4.7 lakh), Odisha (3.17 lakh), Chandigarh (1.44 lakh), Punjab (1.1 lakh) and Arunachal Pradesh (10,937).

Numbers could go up

The third phase of SIR is being carried out in 16 States and three Union Territories. Of these, draft rolls have been published for 17 States/Union Territories, barring those for Nagaland and Tripura which would be out on September 20 and October 21 respectively. The numbers in the final voter lists could increase as the ECI provides a window for people to submit claims and objections for additions and deletions from the draft as well as registration of new voters. The rollout of final lists will start in States soon, with Mizoram, Sikkim and Manipur taking the lead on September 6.

Interestingly, out of these 6.15 crore voters deleted in this phase of SIR, only 1.11 crore are marked dead. Among the rest, 4.52 crore are marked ‘absent’ or 49.58 crore as ‘having multiple enrolments’ and around 3 lakh in the ‘others’ category.

The SIR exercise is over in Bihar, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep. In Assam, due to legalities related to National Register of Citizens (NRC), a “special revision” was conducted.

With the third phase, the exercise would cover the entire country except Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. The SIR schedule for these States would be announced later after considering the completion of Phase-II of the Census and due consideration of weather in the upper reaches or snow bound areas, the ECI had said.

The Delhi High Court on Thursday (September 3, 2026) ruled that booth level agents of political parties are not liable for verifying all details in enumeration forms during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

Justice Amit Bansal said booth level agents (BLA) are liable only for verifiable information like the elector’s photograph.

“In the opinion of this court, BLA can only be made liable in terms of section 31 of the Representation of People Act for information that can be verified by the BLA, i.e., the photograph on the enumeration form matches with the identity of the elector,” the judge said.

Section 31 states that making false declarations with respect to the preparation, revision or correction of an electoral roll is punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both.

The judge passed the judgement on a petition by the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) president Devender Yadav and the chairman of the DPCC’s booth management committee.

The petitioners challenged the mandate requiring BLAs of political parties to give a personal undertaking certifying they have personally verified all details in the enumeration forms.

According to the petitioner, neither the Representation of the People Act nor the Registration of Electors Rules contain any provision empowering the Election Commission to ask the representatives of political parties to give such an undertaking.

“The requirement of a personal undertaking from BLAs is directly contrary to the statutory scheme of verification prescribed under Section 23 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, which mandates that the inclusion of any name in the electoral roll shall be made by the Electoral Registration Officer, and only after ‘proper verification of facts in such manner as may be prescribed’,” the petition had said.

“The prescribed manner of verification under the Rules is to be conducted by statutory officers, not by private individuals or party representatives. The imposition of an undertaking of personal verification upon BLAs amounts to an unlawful delegation of a statutory function to private actors,” it added.

Five booth-level officers (BLOs) have been suspended after a local BJP worker was caught on Thursday (August 27, 2026) photocopying more than 3,400 Special Intensive Revision (SIR) electoral forms containing voter details at a shop in Navi Mumbai.

A case was filed on the morning of August 28, a senior Kharghar police official said. 

According to District Collector Kishan Jawale, the Electoral Registration Office received a complaint that the accused, Suraj Patil, was making photocopies of SIR forms.

“Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) were sent to investigate the complaint, where they caught Patil making illegal photocopies of 3,400 enumeration forms at a photocopy centre in Sector 19, Kharghar. The EROs registered the crime at Kharghar police station,” Mr. Jawale said.

Five BLOs who were responsible for handing these enumeration forms to Mr. Patil have also been suspended, he said.

Kharghar police rushed to the scene and took the alleged BJP office-bearer into custody. All the printed enumeration forms were seized from the premises and taken to the police station.

According to police, Shiv Sena (UBT) workers confronted the man and claimed he was an office-bearer of the BJP’s Youth Wing. The seized documents consisted of authentic SIR forms from the 188 Panvel assembly constituency, containing voters’ photographs, personal details, and official BLO signatures.

The Kharghar police have registered a first information report (FIR) against Mr. Patil under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Representation of the People Act.

Mr. Patil was detained and served a notice as per standard legal procedure before being released, police said.

Sena (UBT) workers alleged that Mr. Patil managed to flee the Kharghar police station shortly after being brought in for questioning. The incident triggered a clash between Shiv Sena (UBT) and BJP activists.

Opposition leaders cry foul

Shiv Sena (UBT) office-bearer Balesh Bhojane questioned how SIR forms filled out by ordinary voters reached private individuals and alleged that BJP youth wing functionaries were connected with the incident.

However, Panvel Municipal Corporation Mayor and BJP leader Nitin Patil claimed that party workers had no connection with the matter.

Opposition NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar said suspension of the BLOs was not enough and alleged that the incident exposed the manner in which the SIR process was being conducted.

“We have been saying that the BJP is using this process to ensure its poll victory and this incident proves us right,” he said.

Mr. Pawar alleged he had sought a response from the Election Commission over the incident, but the authorities had passed the responsibility to the Election Commission of India.

(With inputs from PTI)

1,07,96,415 crore, that is the number of voters facing possible exclusion from the Karnataka’s electoral rolls after being categorised as Absent, Shifted, Dead, Duplicate and Others (ASDDO), following the conclusion of enumeration phase on August 17. At close to1.08 crore, that is close to one-fifth of the State’s electorate.

With the draft electoral roll scheduled to be published on August 24, the main concerns remain voter exclusion, the accuracy and transparency of the ASDDO classification.

Reporting: Nalme Nachiyar, Rishita Khanna

Video & Editing: Ravichandran N

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday (July 27, 2026) directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to ensure that schoolteachers deployed for the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls are not subjected to an “unbearable” burden.

A Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia reiterated that the poll body’s constitutional powers must be exercised in compliance with the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009.

The Bench clarified that there was no dispute regarding the ECI’s power to engage teachers for election-related work. However, it emphasised that Section 27 of the RTE Act, which prohibits teachers from being assigned non-educational duties except for population census, disaster relief and election work, “cannot be lost sight of”.

ECI counsel stated that teachers being requisitioned for performing the work relating to revision of the electoral roll are being engaged only after school hours, holidays and non-teaching days.

“We, however, may also emphasise that after working in a school for 6-8 hours, a teacher engaged to perform election duties may cause stress and therefore it is expected of the ECI and its officers to be mindful of the stress which a teacher undergoes while performing election-related duties after the school hours and non-teaching days,” the bench observed.

“Accordingly, we direct that while assigning the work related to elections to the teachers… they shall take all appropriate steps so that the election-related work does not cause so much stress on teachers which may lead to unbearable burden,” the Bench said.

During the hearing, counsel for the petitioners disputed the Election Commission’s submission that teachers were being assigned SIR duties only after school hours, on holidays and on non-teaching days, describing the claim as “100 per cent lie.”

The Bench said, “You bring to the notice of the court that any of the teachers have been deployed during the course of the teaching hours, we will take action against them”.

The Bench also questioned the ECI over a circular issued on July 26 directing school principals not to initiate disciplinary action against teachers for unauthorised leave or absence. The Bench asked why such a direction was necessary if teachers were, as claimed by the Commission, being engaged only after school hours.

“Can any teacher be charged with misconduct of unauthorised leave if she is present during school hours? If they are engaged after school hours, where is the question of there being any absence or unauthorised leave?” the Court asked. It added that while it was not undermining the ECI’s electoral exercise, a balance had to be maintained with the mandate of the RTE Act. “It seems you are least bothered about the RTE Act… This whole letter is threatening,” the Bench remarked.

When the ECI submitted that teachers may spend about five hours after school performing Booth Level Officer (BLO) duties, the Court expressed concern over the cumulative workload saying the teacher should not be expected to work for nearly 11 hours a day, particularly as many of them are women with family responsibilities.

“We are not curtailing the rights of the ECI, but we are also conscious of the conditions of teachers… You have to humanise,” the Court observed.

The petition, filed by advocates Rajesh Kumar Gogna and Ashok Agarwal, contended that the mass deployment of government, municipal and government-aided school teachers for the SIR exercise was adversely affecting the education of lakhs of students in Delhi. It alleged that in several schools, regular teaching staff had been withdrawn during school hours, forcing classes to be handled by guest teachers or teachers from unrelated subjects.

The Court has posted the matter for further hearing on August 20.

With Haryana completing the first phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) across the State, the names of 33,84,568 electors went unrecorded as a result of permanent relocation, absence, death or duplicate entries.

Haryana’s Chief Electoral Officer A. Sreenivas said that the first phase of the SIR in the State has been completed and the draft electoral roll will be published on July 31, which will be made available on the official website as well as at all designated publication centres.

Addressing a press conference here, Mr. Sreenivas said that 20,629 Booth Level Officers (BLOs) distributed enumeration forms to more than 2 crore electors, out of which over 1 crore enumeration forms have been digitised.

“However, the names of 33,84,568 electors could not be recorded. Of these, 13,75,278 had permanently shifted, 7,66,205 were found to be deceased, 2,04,916 were already registered as electors, 9,36,646 electors were found absent, while 1,01,523 electors did not submit their enumeration forms due to other reasons,” he said.

He said that claims and objections can be filed from July 31 to August 30. “If the name of any elector does not appear in the draft electoral roll to be published on July 31, he or she may submit Form 6 to get the name included again. The name will be included in the final electoral roll,” he said.

“The name of any elector will not be deleted without giving an opportunity of hearing. If an elector is aggrieved by the decision of the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO), an appeal may be filed before the District Magistrate within 15 days. If the grievance still persists, a further appeal may be filed before the Chief Electoral Officer within 30 days,” he added.

The final electoral roll will be published on October 3, he said. He said that 37,055 Booth Level Agents (BLAs) appointed by various political parties are also assisting in the process. “These include 19,051 appointed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), 15,818 by the Indian National Congress, 1,476 by the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), 54 by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), 314 by the Communist Party of India (CPI) and 342 by the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP),” he said.