ECI Controversy SIR: Why did UP order form 6, 7 and 8 check from April 10? What voters should know | Today’s news
Uttar Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Navdeep Rinwa has reportedly ordered a review of all voter forms (Forms 6, 7 and 8) entered by computer assistants since April 10. The exercise will be conducted in all 403 constituencies of Uttar Pradesh.
The decision comes as the Electoral Commission steps up efforts to avoid excluding any eligible voter from the final electoral roll following allegations of irregularities in the Special Intensive Review (SIR).
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An official statement issued on Sunday evening (October 24) said that UP Director General Rinwa has ordered that all Forms 6, 7 and 8 entered by computer assistants since the closure of the SIR on April 10 be scrutinized, news agency PTI reported.
Correction of irregular entries in Form 8 as per prescribed norms is also underway, the statement said.
Form 6 is used for entering names on the electoral rolls, Form 7 for objections to the inclusion or deletion of names, and Form 8 for corrections and other changes to electoral records.
Why did the UP CEO order the voter forms to be checked?
The measure has been taken to prevent recurrence of incidents like the one reported in Pilibhit. The controversy arose after complaints that some Electoral Identification Cards (EPIC) numbers displayed details belonging to other voters.
On 21 October, the Uttar Pradesh Congress alleged large-scale manipulation of electoral rolls in the Pilibhit Sadar Assembly constituency, saying the names of 13,150 voters were changed while their EPIC and serial numbers remained the same.
Similar concerns were raised by the Samajwadi Party.
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In a statement on Thursday, UP Chief Executive Navdeep Rinwa’s office said “irregularities” were found in 10,470 entries in the electoral roll of the Pilibhit Assembly constituency.
According to PTI, he said that a detailed investigation found that a computer assistant at the Voter Registration Center had entered 13,779 applications to change voter details in Form 8 between May 31 and August 29, 2026.
Of these, 10,470 were approved and 3,309 were rejected. No application forms or supporting records related to these records were found in the office, the statement said.
Following this, the Uttar Pradesh election authorities have ordered legal action against two serving and former voter registration officials and the dismissal of a computer assistant, officials told PTI on Thursday.
UP CEO warns officials over ‘irregularities’
The UP Chief Electoral Officer issued the instructions during a virtual meeting with Divisional Commissioners, District Election Officers, Electoral Registration Officers (ERO), Electoral Registration Assistants and Computer Assistants on Saturday.
According to an official statement, the meeting was held ahead of preparations for the Special Summary Review (SSR) of electoral rolls.
1. Check all outstanding forms 6, 7 and 8 daily: Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) have been instructed to check all pending Forms 6, 7 and 8 on a daily basis and ensure their speedy disposal as per the rules. Physical applications must also be kept securely.
2. Timely and high-quality processing of all complaints: He directed the ERO to ensure timely and quality disposal of all complaints received since April 10 through the National Complaints Portal (NGSP), Public Grievance Redressal System (PGRS), social media and other channels.
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3. Computer assistants may not enter applications: Rinwa ordered that computer assistants must not be tasked with entering applications received in physical form. “All such forms must be digitized by cabin level officers (BLOs) through the BLO application,” he told PTI.
4. Liability: The Director General warned that the ERO, Assistant Electoral Registration Officers and Computer Assistants would be held liable for such irregularities with action under Section 32 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950.
“District election officials would also be held responsible for lax supervision,” the PTI statement said.
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5. Intensive monitoring: The Divisional Commissioners, appointed as list observers, were directed to keep a close eye on the work related to the electoral roll in their respective districts. Failure to supervise would trigger action against the officials concerned.
6. Study ยง 32 of the RP Act: The Director General asked officials to study Section 32 of the Representation of the People Act, which deals with breaches of official duties in connection with the preparation, revision and correction of electoral rolls.
7. No mistake must be repeated: He also directed them to ensure that mistakes found during the investigation of complaints received from political parties and through social media are not repeated.
8. Do not share ERONET login IDs and passwords: Officials have been instructed not to share their ERONET login IDs and passwords with anyone and to change their passwords immediately in accordance with the prescribed password policy.
9. Remove duplicate entries: The meeting also looked into complaints regarding duplicate voters circulating on social media, according to the statement.
He directed officials to take early steps to remove all duplicate entries from the electoral rolls to ensure that the draft lists released during the upcoming SSR do not contain duplicate entries.
Rinwa expressed displeasure over the failure of district election officials in Bulandshahr, Sitapur, Ghaziabad and Aligarh to submit complaint reports on time and directed them to send the reports immediately.
10. Addiction: Officials have also been asked to ensure that no call request received under the ‘Book a Call with BLO’ facility on the ECINET app and the Election Commission’s voters.eci.gov.in portal remains pending for more than 48 hours.
“Action would be taken if BLOs mark citizens as ‘unavailable’ without attempting to contact them or responding to call requests within the stipulated time,” the statement said.
11. Complaints against BLO: The CEO was probing complaints from the special campaign day held on October 24, looking for reports of BLOs arriving late or remaining absent from polling stations. He warned that the repetition of such complaints during the special campaign days in the upcoming SSR will not be tolerated.
SIR vs SSR: What is the ‘summary revision’ of the Election Commission’s new electoral roll?
The Election Commission has announced the full schedule for the annual Special Summary Review (SSR), which gives voters a chance to get their names on the electoral roll.
SSR is an annual exercise conducted by the EC to update the electoral roll. The Election Commission said the SSR is being conducted to ensure that no eligible citizen is left out and no ineligible person is included or remains in the electoral roll.
Changes in the list of UP voters
Uttar Pradesh’s electoral roll has dropped from 15.44 million voters in the list released on October 27, 2025 to 13.39 million in the final list released on April 10 after SIR, Hindustan Times reported.
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