Brittas objects to mandatory declaration in online voter registration form, writes to CEC

New Delhi, Jul 13 (PTI) CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas on Monday wrote to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar objecting to the Election Commission's introduction of a mandatory declaration in the online Form 6 for voter registration, alleging that the change has been made without statutory backing. In his letter, Brittas said applicants seeking inclusion in the electoral rolls through the ECINET portal are now required to disclose whether they or their parents or grandparents were included in the last Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and furnish their legacy electoral details. He alleged that while the declaration has been made mandatory in the online form, no corresponding amendment has been made to the statutory Form 6 prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, and no gazette notification was issued by the Ministry of Law and Justice that authorises the change. "A statutory form prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, cannot be rewritten through administrative instructions or software updates. A portal is not a gazette. Software code is not law," Brittas said. He said that permitting statutory safeguards governing voter registration to be altered through changes in an online portal, without amending the rules, would undermine the rule of law. Brittas also claimed that the requirement would create an unjust burden on first-time voters, migrants, adopted children, orphans and others who may not have access to decades-old electoral records of their parents or grandparents. "The constitutional guarantee of universal adult suffrage cannot be diluted by technological barriers that have no statutory sanction," he said. He urged the Election Commission to immediately withdraw the modification and ensure that no eligible citizen is denied or delayed enrolment on the basis of a requirement "that lacks the authority of law". The Election Commission has made it mandatory for new applicants seeking inclusion in the electoral rolls through online Form 6 to submit a declaration containing the SIR details of their parents. According to Election Commission officials, the declaration was introduced through instructions during the Bihar SIR exercise and has not been incorporated into the statutory Form 6. They said the declaration helps map electors and reduces the documents that new applicants need to submit. Under the online system, an applicant cannot proceed without filling out the declaration. PTI AO RUK RUK