It is not only existing voters who were not covered by the previous Special Intensive Review (SIR) who have to provide their parents’ SIR details to remain on the electoral rolls, but also new applicants seeking to be included in the voters’ list, according to EC officials.
By issuing instructions, the Electoral Commission (EC) has made it mandatory to attach SIR details of parents for new voters filling up Form 6 for inclusion in the electoral rolls.
The advertisement has been added in the Bihar SIR which was launched in June last year. New voters were sent to submit declaration with Form 6.
“Daily SIR bulletins in Bihar showed the form filled with advertisements,” an EC official said.
The employee confirmed that the declaration had been added through the instructions and Form No. 6 had not been amended.
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“It helps in voter mapping and reduces the documents that new voters need to submit with the application,” the official added.
If someone fills out Form 6 online, they cannot move forward until the return is filled out.
Separately, the polling body defended the intensified special review of electoral lists, rejecting concerns raised by UN rapporteurs and asserting that the process is transparent, constitutional and approved by the Supreme Court.
The SIR system aims to include all eligible Indian citizens while removing duplicate, deceased, converted, absentee and foreign voters from the electoral rolls, EC officials said.
In response to allegations of widespread deletion of minority voters, including in Nandigram, West Bengal, EC officials said voters had adequate opportunities to challenge the exclusions and denied any bias.
In a recent letter to the government, UN special rapporteurs expressed concerns about the SIR, claiming that the process lacks transparency.
