New Delhi, Delhi
Amid the political debate over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the country, a controversy has now emerged over Form 6, which is used for the registration of new voters. The dispute concerns an additional declaration asking new voters whether their names, or those of their parents or grandparents, appeared in the electoral rolls prepared during the previous SIR.
According to reports, Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections to this provision added to Form 6. Their concern was whether it was appropriate to seek such additional information without formally amending the prescribed rules.
However, the Election Commission has denied making any changes to Form 6. According to the Commission, the original Form 6 has not been modified; instead, an additional declaration was attached to it as part of the SIR process.
The controversy comes against the backdrop of the ongoing SIR exercise. According to reports, more than 130 million names have been removed from draft electoral rolls across 30 states and Union Territories.
The dispute intensified after a report claimed that the two Election Commissioners had raised objections to various decisions of the Commission at least 14 times over the past 10 months. These objections reportedly included issues related to Form 6, voter data, and the addition or deletion of names from electoral rolls.
Following these reports, however, the Election Commission stated that all decisions, including those related to the SIR, were taken with the consent of all three Election Commissioners.
The central question now is the legal basis for seeking information related to previous SIR electoral rolls from new voters and what impact this requirement could have on the registration of new voters.
