EC gives fresh chance to voters excluded from draft SIR rolls in Delhi, Maharashtra, 5 other states

Most of the electors struck off draft rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) can now seek re-inclusion without filing Form 6, the Election Commission of India (ECI) said on Friday. The Form 6 route remains available, it clarified, but it is not the only option.Ranchi: Booth Level Officers (BLOs) assist voters in verifying their names in the electoral roll and filling out forms during the Election Commission of India's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. (PTI)In a letter dated November 6, addressed to the chief electoral officers (CEOs) of Delhi, Maharashtra, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Telangana and Nagaland, the Commission said electors marked Absent, Shifted, Dead or Duplicate (ASDD), and thus excluded from the draft roll, will get “one more opportunity” to be included in the final roll. Accepted applicants will get the same EPIC number they held before the SIR, indicating they are being treated as existing electors rather than first-time enrollees. These categories together account for around 130 million of the 134 million people struck off the rolls.ALSO READ | High-rises to workplaces, UP casts wide net for unenrolled voters“Booth-wise lists of all such electors, who were marked as absent, shifted, dead, or duplicate (ASDD) and whose enumeration forms were not received back and consequently could not be included in the Draft Electoral Roll during the ongoing SIR, shall be displayed afresh (once again) on the notice boards of the respective Polling Stations,” the letter stated.A senior ECI official said this decision gives those left off the rolls one more chance to enroll. “Form6 will not be required in these cases at all. The process is much easier now. People can refill enumeration forms with the prescribed declaration,” this person added.ALSO READ | Voters show enthusiasm as AMU students’ union polls return after 8 yrsForm 6 is the statutory application under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, that eligible citizens use to be added to the electoral roll for the first time. Its declaration states that the applicant is enrolling for the first time and that their name is not already in any other constituency. False statements are punishable under Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, with up to a year in jail, a fine, or both. The form became contentious during the SIR because electors left out of the draft who had been on the rolls for years had to seek inclusion afresh, although ECI clarified that doing this would not attract any punishment.Friday’s order comes after weeks of scrutiny in the Supreme Court of Delhi’s roll, where the draft published on August 31 removed about 4.7 million names from roughly 14.5 million electors. On October 28, the bench hearing the case questioned why persons deleted from the draft roll should use Form 6 to register as new voters when they were on the rolls previously. Instead, it suggested that such voters be permitted to restore their names through Form 8, which is intended for address-related changes, or through the enumeration process. It also asked ECI to devise a mechanism to reach omitted voters, observing that the right to vote cannot be forfeited merely because a person was absent during enumeration.But ECI still persevered with Form 6. On November 3, ECI clarified that deleted voters could file Form 6 to register as new voters. The poll panel said that voters whose names did not figure in the draft SIR rolls could submit Form 6 to seek fresh inclusion in the final voters’ list, even if they were enrolled previously. Citing a Delhi High Court’s October 14 judgment, the ECI said the apprehension of making a false declaration was misplaced.A day before the ECI’s letter, the Bombay High Court also weighed in. A division bench of its Goa bench, comprising Justices Valmiki Menezes and Amit Jamsandekar, held on Thursday that existing voters who have only changed addresses cannot be compelled to file Form 6, which is meant for first-time registration, and must be allowed to file Form 8 even while the SIR is underway.As per the ECI’s latest order, partially filled enumeration forms will be regenerated on the ECINET dashboard. District and electoral registration officers must try to reach electors through booth-level officers (BLOs) in person or via WhatsApp, email or SMS. BLOs are to make house-to-house visits in coordination with booth-level agents of political parties, and to ask neighbours, families and resident welfare associations. Electors can also download and fill the form online using their earlier EPIC number.Electors who have not moved must submit the signed enumeration form with a statement explaining why they missed the earlier round, in person, through a family member, or online with e-sign. Those who shifted within the state need not file Form 8. They must submit the form, along with a statement and address proof to the electoral registration officer (ERO) of their new constituency. They can use the “Book a call with BLO” facility on the ECI website and app. For homeless people, a BLO’s field verification report will suffice as proof of residence.ALSO READ | More checks added on EC staff in eye of storm amid row over internal dissent allegationsThe forms will be processed after verifying eligibility and residence, and accepted forms will be included in the final roll. Electors who have already filed Form 6 need not refile, and their applications will be processed under the Commission’s November 3 clarification.Previously, the ECI extended the SIR schedule for these states on October 29 after requests from CEOs, following the Supreme Court’s request to consider extending the deadline for Delhi voters’ claims and objections. The schedule has been revised several times.