The Chief Electoral Officer role of Maharashtra has written to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to alter Form 6 in order to persuade eligible voters whose names were deleted due to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls to re-join the electoral rolls without regarding themselves as a first-time voter.
The suggestion has been made to the ECI last week, sources said. It aims to rectify a current issue presented in the existing Form 6 where applicants would have to declare their intent to be listed on the electoral roll for the first time.
A person applying to register as a voter normally issues an application on Form 6.An application for registration as a voter is normally made on Form 6. The ECI has also issued a similar directive to people whose names are not on the electoral rolls obtained during the SIR exercise to use the form for fresh inclusion.
The vote has left some deployed voters in doubt about how they voted. It may be because their names will show up on the electoral rolls before them and they might feel uncomfortable signing a declaration that they’re making their first application to register. They may be apprehensive of breaking the law by doing so.
This request by the Maharashtra Chief Electoral Officer addresses this issue, ensuring the re-inclusion process is more transparent for eligible voters impacted by the revision exercise. Any alteration on the form would be subject to the decision of ECI on ECI’s proposal.
There are legal aspects to this issue as well. The Representation of the People Act, 1950, provides a punishment for a person making a false declaration in regard to electoral rolls in accordance to section 31 of the act. The punishment may be a year’s imprisonment or a fine or a combination of the two.
The proposed amendment aims to rectify a problem between the form’s current declaration and the situation of voters with his or her name on the electoral register before the SIR, but who may have been removed.
A ruling on the request might resolve the question of how such voters wish to register again without compromising the consistency between the voter registration process and the applicable law.