ECI clarifies Form 6 usage: Previously enrolled voters can submit if names missing from draft SIR rolls

The Election Commission on Tuesday said previously enrolled voters can submit Form 6 for inclusion as electors if their names are missing from draft Special Intensive Revision (SIR) rolls.The clarification comes amid concerns among those whose names have been deleted from draft SIR rolls that submitting Form 6, which carries a declaration that the applicant is seeking inclusion in the voters' list for the first time, could amount to making a false declaration and invite prosecution under the Representation of the People Act.In a letter to all state chief electoral officers, the Election Commission (EC) said that it has been brought to its notice that certain people whose names do not figure in the draft electoral roll published during the ongoing SIR are hesitant to submit Form 6 as they are also required to furnish a declaration prescribed in the form to the effect that their name is being included in the electoral rolls for the first time."Therefore, such electors believe that submission of Form 6, in view of their previous enrolment, would amount to making a false declaration and render them liable for prosecution under Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950," it said.The EC clarified that voters whose names do not figure in the draft SIR rolls can submit Form 6 to seek fresh inclusion in the final voters' list, even if they were enrolled previously.The poll authority said the submission of Form 6 in cases where the name was deleted from the draft SIR roll would not, by itself, constitute a false declaration.An Electoral Registration Officer cannot initiate action under Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act merely because an elector who was on the earlier electoral roll submits Form 6 during or after the SIR, the EC said.Such action is barred unless the elector is enrolled elsewhere or has made an unlawful or false declaration, it underlined.Citing the Delhi High Court's October 14 judgment, the EC said the apprehension of making a false declaration was misplaced.