The Election Commission of India’s voter registration process has come under scrutiny over changes linked to the declaration submitted with Form 6, which is used by people applying for inclusion in the electoral roll for the first time.
The issue is connected to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The Election Commission has clarified that Form 6 itself has not been changed. Instead, it says an additional declaration, known as Annexure D, is required along with Form 6 under the SIR process.
The declaration asks applicants to provide information related to their date and place of birth. Depending on when an applicant was born in India, different documents may be required.
Applicants born before July 1, 1987, are required to provide a document for themselves establishing their date or place of birth. Those born between July 1, 1987, and December 2, 2004, need documents for themselves and either their father or mother. Those born after December 2, 2004, need documents for themselves as well as both parents. If a parent is not an Indian citizen, the declaration also asks for that parent’s valid passport and visa at the time of the applicant’s birth.
The declaration also covers people born outside India and those who acquired Indian citizenship through registration or naturalisation. The ECI has listed documents such as birth certificates, passports, educational certificates, government-issued identity documents and certain other official records as possible supporting documents.
During later stages of the SIR process, the online system also required new voters to provide information about whether they, their parents or grandparents had appeared in an earlier electoral roll. Applicants could be asked to provide details such as the Assembly Constituency, polling station or part number and the serial number where the name appeared. Reports said that although the relevant field was not formally marked mandatory, applicants could not complete the online submission without responding to it.
These changes led to objections from Election Commissioners Vivek Joshi and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu. According to an Indian Express investigation, the two commissioners raised concerns in May and August 2026 about the way the SIR-related information had been incorporated into the online voter registration process. The report said they questioned whether a statutory form could be changed without following the procedure for amending the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.
The Election Commission has disputed the description of the change as an amendment to Form 6. Its position is that the existing Form 6 remains unchanged and that Annexure D is a separate declaration introduced alongside the form. The poll panel has also said that the relevant SIR orders were approved by the full three-member Commission.
The Supreme Court, in its May 27, 2026 judgment on the Bihar SIR, considered the Election Commission’s powers in conducting the revision and the procedures used during the exercise. The Court’s judgment records the legal challenge to the SIR and the Commission’s powers under Article 324 of the Constitution and the Representation of the People Act.
The ECI has subsequently maintained that the additional declaration was part of the SIR instructions and that its use alongside Form 6 does not amount to changing the statutory form. Its current voter-service portal separately provides options for filling Form 6 and the declaration form.
The dispute therefore centres on an important procedural question: whether the additional information should be treated simply as a separate declaration required under the SIR process or as a substantive alteration to the statutory Form 6. The Election Commission maintains the former position, while the objections reported from the two commissioners focused on the manner in which the requirement was incorporated into the online process.
The controversy comes at a time when the ECI is carrying out SIR-related electoral-roll exercises in several parts of the country. The debate over Form 6 highlights the importance of clear procedures for new voter registration while also raising questions about how additional requirements should be introduced into an existing statutory framework.