Election Commission of India Adds Parent Verification to Online Voter Forms

The Election Commission of India introduced a mandatory declaration section in the online version of Form 6 on its ECINET portal, requiring new voter applicants to disclose whether they or their parents appeared in the last Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Applicants must provide the Assembly constituency number, polling booth number, and the serial number of a registered parent, or alternatively provide parents' names and Elector's Photo Identity Card numbers.

This administrative change applies to states and Union Territories where the SIR is ongoing or concluded, though it excludes Bihar and Assam. While the digital portal prevents submission without this information, the statutory offline version of Form 6 remains unchanged. The commission stated the measure helps in mapping electors and reduces the documentation burden for new applicants.

The requirement follows a broader SIR exercise that began in Bihar in June 2025 and has since spanned 19 states and Union Territories. This process has resulted in the deletion of over 5.58 crore names across 10 states and three Union Territories, including 27 lakh electors in West Bengal.

Critics and United Nations Special Rapporteurs have alleged that the SIR process lacks transparency and may arbitrarily disenfranchise voters. Additionally, legal questions have been raised regarding the commission's authority to alter registration requirements via instruction rather than statutory amendment through the Ministry of Law and Justice. The commission maintains the process is constitutional, transparent, and endorsed by the Supreme Court.