Election Commission

The Election Commission (EC) has told the Supreme Court that voters whose names are missing from draft electoral rolls despite having been enrolled earlier can apply afresh through Form 6 without the fear of prosecution. In an affidavit filed before the court, the poll panel said chief electoral officers have been requested to give wide publicity to the said clarification, in local languages as well. "It had been brought to the notice of the Commission that some apprehensions were expressed that applicants who were enrolled as voters in previous electoral roll(s) but whose names did not appear in the draft Electoral Roll during the SIR -- by filing Form 6, may face action for prosecution under Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, on account of the fact that they were enrolled as voters in the previous electoral roll(s). "In order to allay such misapprehensions, the Commission ... has clarified that no prosecution will be launched against anyone for filing Form 6

The Election Commission on Tuesday said restrictions and prohibitions applicable to serving government employees under the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) will also apply to retired government officials and other individuals engaged by state and Union territory governments. In a letter to the chief secretaries and chief electoral officers of Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, all five of which will go to polls early next year, the Election Commission (EC) said such individuals must maintain political neutrality and refrain from participating in election campaigns or canvassing.

The Election Commission on Thursday announced a Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and Daman and Diu, Mizoram, Odisha and Sikkim. The poll roll revision exercise seeks to enrol eligible voters, particularly young and first-time electors, and facilitate advance applications from those who will become eligible on April 1, July 1 and October 1, 2027. The draft electoral rolls will be published on November 30. Final publication of electoral rolls will take place on January 21, 2027. The Commission has directed chief secretaries of the respective States and UTs to ensure adequate manpower and resources for the exercise.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it would hear on November 19 concerns raised over the Election Commission's recent clarification allowing voters, whose names were omitted from the draft electoral rolls, to seek fresh enrolment through Form 6 during the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Delhi. Observing that people need not be apprehensive as the court was hearing the matter, a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana asked petitioners Anjali Bharadwaj and Amrita Johri to file an appropriate application placing the EC's November 3 clarification on record. The bench said the matter would be taken up for hearing on November 19. The CJI also indicated that the bench could consider asking the EC to extend the deadline, if necessary. The issue was brought to the court's notice by advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioners. He said that the EC's November 3 clarification appeared to be contrary to the Supreme Court's ...

The Election Commission has followed up on its Supreme Court affidavit and separated the new voter enrolment form and an accompanying declaration in its online version in states where the SIR exercise is underway. In September, it had already withdrawn the declaration from its digital platforms in states where the special intensive revision of voters' (SIR) list has been completed. Form 6 is filled by those seeking inclusion in the voters' list. Since the Bihar SIR, the poll authority has added a declaration form seeking SIR details of parents of those filling Form 6. While in the offline or physical mode, citizens have to fill the two separately, in the online version a single OTP for the two documents had led to suggestions that the EC had tweaked Form 6 without the approval of the Union law ministry. EC officials said on Wednesday that the submission process of the prescribed statutory Form 6 and Declaration used under the earlier process has been revised. "Previously, Form 6 a

The Election Commission on Tuesday said previously enrolled voters can submit Form 6 for inclusion as electors if their names are missing from draft Special Intensive Revision (SIR) rolls. The clarification comes amid concerns among those whose names have been deleted from draft SIR rolls that submitting Form 6, which carries a declaration that the applicant is seeking inclusion in the voters' list for the first time, could amount to making a false declaration and invite prosecution under the Representation of the People Act. In a letter to all state chief electoral officers, the Election Commission (EC) said that it has been brought to its notice that certain people whose names do not figure in the draft electoral roll published during the ongoing SIR are hesitant to submit Form 6 as they are also required to furnish a declaration prescribed in the form to the effect that their name is being included in the electoral rolls for the first time. "Therefore, such electors believe that

The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought responses from the Centre and others on a plea by traders' organisations seeking a halt to the ongoing protests against the chief election commissioner during the festive season, and said that the protest site cannot be occupied for "all times to come". A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana was hearing several pleas, including one filed by the Kirana Committee Delhi alleging loss of business due to a protest at the Ramlila Maidan. "You can't occupy a site at all times. Where will farmers, journalists, etc., go? Everyone has the right to protest. Designated time must be given for designated period," the CJI said. The bench was hearing a batch of pleas, including the one filed by the traders, and on issues of alleged mass detention, police brutalities, closure of Metro stations and internet shutdown. The bench asked the traders' bodies to make the organisers of the anti-CEC protest parties to their pl

At the INDIA bloc's Ramlila Maidan rally, Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP of electoral manipulation, while Mamata Banerjee, Akhilesh Yadav and Mallikarjun Kharge demanded accountability from the EC

The Election Commission of India on Thursday revised the SIR timelines for Delhi, extending the last date of filing claims and objections to November 25 and shifting the publication of the final electoral roll to December 22. According to an Election Commission notification, the claims and objections filed will be disposed of by December 15. Along with Delhi, the poll body also revised the timelines for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in five other states Maharashtra, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Nagaland. The latest extension in Delhi comes a day after the Supreme Court asked the Election Commission to consider extending the timeline for filing claims and objections by voters. The previous last date for filing claims and objections was October 30, while the same were to be disposed of by November 30, and the final roll was to be out on December 4. After 47.56 lakh electors in Delhi were excluded from the draft electoral rolls published on August 31, as ma

The Supreme Court questioned why previously registered Delhi voters must file Form 6 and said it had not yet ruled on the legality of the ECI's logical discrepancy category

The court questioned the use of Form 6 for previously registered voters and asked the poll panel to simplify re-inclusion procedures and consider removing cut-off dates

The Election Commission has issued guidelines on transfer and posting of officials directly involved in election-related duties in view of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly Polls, Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa said on Tuesday. The EC has directed that these guidelines be strictly followed to ensure the fairness and transparency of the electoral process. Rinwa said that in light of guidelines, officers directly involved in election-related duties and have completed three years in the same district within the last four years -- up to May 31, 2027 -- are to be transferred out of that district. The EC has asked the chief secretary and the director general of police to submit to it a consolidated report detailing the actions taken on its instructions by November 30. Rinwa, according to a statement, said that the transfer policy covers a slew of officers, including electoral registration officers, sub-divisional magistrates, joint magistrates, and tehsildars. It extend

The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted 10 days to petitioners to file a reply to the Election Commission's affidavit defending the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, maintaining that the exercise was authorised by law and the relevant orders were approved unanimously by all three members of the poll panel. A bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana also issued notices to the poll panel and others on a fresh plea filed by Rajya Sabha MP Dola Sen alleging that changes were made in Form 6 during Bihar SIR without the approval of the top court. Senior advocate and MP Maneka Guruswamy, appearing for Sen, said the poll panel wrongly claimed that the changes in Form 6 were approved by the top court. While issuing the notice, the CJI said that all the issues would be examined and asked senior advocate Vikas Singh, who represented the first petitioner, Rakesh Kumar Singh, to file a rejoinder in 10 days to the poll ...

ECI has cited trade secrets and intellectual property to deny disclosure of the software used in the voter roll revision, saying registration officers decide inclusion or exclusion based on records

A march against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls began in central Delhi on Friday, with participants heading towards the Election Commission of India (ECI) headquarters to protest against the alleged deletion of voters. The march, called by the Delhi Coordination Committee of People Against SIR -- a people's collective -- started near Gole Dak Khana, at the intersection of Kalibari Marg and Bhai Vir Singh Marg. Krantikari Yuva Sangathan (KYS) and the Students' Federation of India (SFI) have extended their support to the protest, with activists from Delhi, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh participating as well. Security was tightened near Bangla Sahib Gurudwara, with Delhi Police and Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel deployed in large numbers ahead of the march. The organisers have appealed to farmers, workers, youth, women and people from different sections of society to join the march carrying the national flag. They said the march would remain peaceful a

RTI records show the Cabinet Secretariat forwarded 2 Election Commissioners' complaints to the CEC and DoPT, saying acting on individual letters could be seen as interference in a constitutional body

The Cabinet Secretariat refrained from taking any action on complaints sent by two Election Commissioners against the conduct of an officer in the Commission, noting that the communications were in their "individual capacity" and in the absence of "any official communication from the Commission as a whole, any action at this stage may be inappropriate", records made public in an RTI reply show. Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had sent two separate communications on July 29 to the top bureaucrat of the country TV Somanathan, on the working of Senior Deputy Election Commissioner (Sr. DEC) Maneesh Garg, IAS, who was posted in the Commission by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet since September 2, 2024, the letters provided in the RTI reply to activist Commodore Lokesh K Batra (retd) show. The Indian Express had reported in September that Sandhu and Joshi wrote separately to Cabinet Secretary TV Somanathan after issuance of a work allocation order withi

The Delhi High Court said voters whose names were deleted after they failed to submit enumeration forms during SIR could apply through Form 6, rejecting concerns over 'false declarations'

The poll officials have started reverification of more than 47 lakh voters whose names were removed from the draft electoral rolls, to ensure that no eligible voter is left out in the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Ashok Kumar said on Friday. The development comes amid complaints that the names of many living voters and those who were living at their registered address were also removed from the draft rolls published on August 31. Kumar said that around 25 lakh cases out of 33.12 lakh, in which voters who were issued notices for non-mapping or logical discrepancy, have also been resolved. Speaking with reporters, Kumar said, "The booth-level officers have been directed to reverify the voters whose names were not in the draft rolls published after the enumeration phase. Our efforts are to ensure that no genuine voter's name is omitted in the final voters lists that will be published on December 4." The BLOs who are visiting

The Election Commission will conduct Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in 17 states and UTs, including poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa.