How the statement accompanying Form 6 has changed since the inception of SIR

In Bihar, confirmation of the exact time period of birth of a new voter was sought, whether it was before 1987, between 1987 and 2004 or after 2004, based on which the prospective voter had to submit documents. File. | Photo credit: Shashi Shekhar Kashyap

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

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

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

For persons born before July 1, 1987, only the applicant’s own document was sufficient to prove the date and/or place of birth; for those born between 1 July 1987 and 2 December 2004, the applicant needed their own document along with that of one parent (either father or mother); and for those born after December 2, 2004, the applicant needed their own document with documents for both parents (father and mother) showing the 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) had to be submitted as well. This had citizenship laws in mind.

Change in the second phase

In the second phase of SIR, new voters filling Form 6 had to declare whether their name or their parents’ name appeared in the last SIR. They also had to provide the assembly constituency number and polling station number and the serial number on which the names appeared in the electoral rolls of the last SIR.

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If the applicant did not have this data when filling out the form online in the second stage, he could choose the third option, namely on the ECINet portal. Although the field was not formally marked as “mandatory”, in practice applicants could not submit the online form without completing it. This addition in form continued in the third phase, which was announced this May.

This very issue was flagged by Election Commissioners Vivek Joshi and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu in separate notes and letters in May 2026 and August 2026.

Form 6 is attached to the Electoral Registration Rules 1960. As it is part of the official rule, it legally counts as part of that rule – the ECI cannot revise it on its own. Only the Union Government (through the Ministry of Law and Justice, as these rules come under the Representation of the People Act, 1950) has the power to amend the rules and hence the Form 6.

With full approval

ECI officials say the addition of a separate declaration form with Form 6 and Form 8 (used for data change) was approved by the entire three-member panel when the SIR process began in Bihar last year and was ratified again in the second and third phases.

They said that Form 6 as such was never amended; only a statement was added. In the online form filling module, the IT department has made changes so that the person filling the form does not have to e-sign twice and can proceed to login only once, they claimed.

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

Published – 25 Sep 2026 22:37 IST