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New Delhi, September 24, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday reiterated that applicants submitting an additional declaration form along with Form 6 or Form 8 during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls are not required to submit any other documents.
The poll panel said the provision was introduced with the Commission's “unanimous approval” and had been part of the SIR process in Bihar and subsequently in other states and Union Territories.
The ECI said it is conducting the SIR under Section 21(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, along with the relevant constitutional provisions. The Supreme Court has also considered the Commission's authority to conduct the exercise in its May 27, 2026 judgment in Association for Democratic Reforms vs Election Commission of India.
According to the ECI, its June 24, 2025 order for Bihar provided that applications for registration as a new elector or shifting from outside the state would require Form 6 or Form 8 along with an additional Declaration Form (Annexure D).
The same provision was included in the SIR order issued for 12 states and Union Territories on October 27, 2025, and subsequently in the May 14 order covering 19 states and Union Territories, the poll panel said.
The ECI said the declaration form was introduced for the “ease of voters”, as those submitting the declaration form would not have to provide any other documents. It added that the provision has been uniformly applied across states and Union Territories covered by the SIR.
An earlier ECI document for the SIR process also specified that no documents were to be collected from electors during the enumeration phase.
The poll panel further referred to the Supreme Court's May 27 judgment in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 640 of 2025. The court examined the legality of the Bihar SIR and the ECI's powers under Article 324 of the Constitution and Section 21(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950.
The ECI quoted the Supreme Court as noting that new voters were required to submit Form 6 along with the Declaration Form in Annexure D under the order challenged before the court.
Meanwhile, ECI sources clarified that the online platform ECINet is a “decentralised platform” designed in accordance with the Representation of the People Acts of 1950 and 1951 and instructions issued by the poll panel.
The clarification followed a media report alleging that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised concerns over the “gradual centralization of the electoral roll database” and that ECINet was restricting the powers of Electoral Registration Officers (EROs).
According to the ECI sources, Booth Level Officers (BLOs), Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs), EROs, District Election Officers (DEOs) and Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) can perform their statutory functions on ECINet using their respective unique IDs and passwords. The sources said no other officer, including another ECI official, can perform those statutory functions on the platform.
The sources also said the ECI provides cybersecurity for ECINet to guard against malicious hacking attempts, which they claimed numbered 68 lakh on a single day during the general elections to legislative assemblies held earlier this year.