Voters can use Form 6 despite prior enrollment, Election Commission clarifies

The Election Commission on Tuesday issued guidance permitting voters who were previously enrolled but have been omitted from draft Special Intensive Revision (SIR) electoral rolls to submit Form 6 for reinclusion, resolving a significant point of confusion among eligible citizens.

The clarification emerged after the Commission became aware that many individuals whose names were deleted or missing from the draft rolls published during the ongoing SIR were reluctant to file Form 6. These voters feared that submitting the form, which contains a declaration stating the applicant seeks inclusion in the electoral rolls for the first time, could constitute a false declaration and expose them to prosecution under the Representation of the People Act.

In a directive to all state chief electoral officers, the Commission confirmed that previously enrolled voters need not interpret the statutory declaration in Form 6 as a barrier to reinclusion. The form's language, while technically requiring such a declaration, is not intended to prevent former voters from reclaiming their electoral rights when their names have been wrongly removed or omitted from current rolls.

The Election Commission's intervention represents an attempt to simplify the voter registration process and encourage participation among citizens whose electoral status has been affected by administrative errors or during the intensive revision process. State electoral authorities have been instructed to facilitate Form 6 submissions from this category of voters without initiating legal action based on the form's standard declaration language.