Election commissioners call Form 6 changes illegal, CEC disagrees
Two election commissioners termed the changes in Form 6 as 'illegal' and 'unauthorized'.
Two election commissioners of the Election Commission had termed the changes made in Form 6, used for new voters, as “illegal” and “unauthorised.” Both commissioners stated that this change should be sent to the central government and should be immediately removed until the rules are amended. However, despite their clear opposition, this change remained on the Commission's portal.
New voters need to fill out Form 6 to register their names in the voter list. SIR, which stands for Special Intensive Revision, has added a new question to this form.
In this, the applicant had to choose one of three options:
- Was their name in the voter list created during the previous SIR in the early 2000s?
- Was the name of any of their parents or grandparents in that voter list?
- Was neither their name nor their parents' name in the voter list at that time?
The Indian Express's Investigative Reporter Ritika Chopra found in the internal records of the Election Commission that this announcement was added to Form 6 despite the objections of the two election commissioners. Both commissioners had stated in May that such a change could not be made without amending the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, which were notified by the central government after consultation with the Election Commission.
On May 16, Election Commissioner Vivek Joshi had registered his objection to the proposal for changes in Form 6 under SIR. He stated that SIR is being conducted as a “one-time measure and exception” under Section 21(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950.
Joshi had stated that,
Forms created for SIR are for this specific process and they are illegal, i.e., non-statutory. Meanwhile, forms like Form 6 and Form 8 are prescribed under the law. Therefore, changes in them cannot be made without amending the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.
He also clarified that,
the legally prescribed Form 6 cannot be changed by adding a sentence in any order or directive of SIR.
Joshi had suggested that,
the legally appropriate course would be to send the proposal to the central government for changes in the rules. He also stated that the draft of the proposed changes in Form 6 and Form 8 should be presented to the Election Commission immediately.
On May 19, Election Commissioner Sukhbir Singh Sandhu also agreed with Joshi's opinion.
On July 12, The Indian Express published a report for the first time about this new declaration added to Form 6 on the Election Commission's ECINet portal. Following this, on August 13, Sandhu referred to this report in a letter to the Deputy Election Commissioner and the Director General related to IT. This letter was also communicated to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioner Vivek Joshi.
Sandhu cited Joshi's comments from May 16, stating that,
Form 6 is a statutory form and cannot be changed without amending the relevant rules.
He wrote that,
despite the clear opinion of the two election commissioners, the “unauthorised/illegal changes” made in Form 6 on the portal were not removed and the original form was not restored.
Sandhu said that,
The change should be removed immediately so that eligible youth and first-time voters can register their names in the voter list according to the law without any hassle. The right to vote depends on legal qualifications such as age, citizenship, and residence. It does not depend on whether the names of their parents were in the previous voter list or not.
In this context, Form 6 has become particularly important for new voters whose parents or grandparents' names were not in the voter list prepared after the SIR . For example, if an 18-year-old's family name was not in the previous SIR voter list, they would not be able to correctly choose any of the first two options. Moreover, the form did not clarify what would happen if the third option was chosen.
This issue is also significant because over 13 crore names have been removed from the draft voter list under the SIR.
A clear legal process already exists for changes in Form 6. In 2021, Parliament amended the Representation of the People Act, 1950. This allowed the Election Commission to collect Aadhaar numbers from voters.
After this, the Election Commission did not make the necessary changes in Form 6 on its own. On June 17, 2022, the Legislative Department of the Ministry of Law issued a notification for necessary amendments in the Registration of Electors Rules and changes in Form 6 . In this legal framework, this year, a proposal for changes in SIR related to Form 6 was presented to the Election Commission, which was objected to by two election commissioners.