Pune: The “first-time voter” clause in Form 6 for name inclusion in the poll roll has put Maharashtra residents categorised as “absent” or “shifted” during Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in a bind.Civil rights activists questioned how existing voters could be asked to declare that they were seeking inclusion in the roll for the first time. Ulka Mahajan of Bharat Jodo Abhiyan told TOI on Saturday that many voters were left out because booth-level officers (BLOs) did not visit them or because of a lack of awareness about the enumeration exercise.“Why should they fill Form 6 and give a false declaration? Giving a false declaration is supposed to be a criminal act. People are being forced to commit an offence,” she said.More than two crore names were left out of the draft electoral roll after SIR in Maharashtra. Of these, about 76 lakh electors were categorised as absent and another 77 lakh as shifted. The poll panel has set Oct 12 as the deadline for claims and objections.State chief electoral officer’s office said eligible voters whose names do not figure in the draft roll could apply through Form 6 during the claims and objections period. Point (iii) of Form 6 states, “I am applying for inclusion in the Electoral Roll for the first time and my name is not included in any Assembly Constituency/Parliamentary Constituency.”Goa bench of Bombay high court recently questioned the procedure after a voter and five family members, who had shifted within the same constituency and submitted Form 8 for the change of address, were left out of the poll roll. The voter said he had been voting since 2003, but was told to file Form 6 to get back on the roll. The court questioned if existing voters were being forced to make a false declaration.Voters trying to get their names back on the roll in the city are facing the issue of the “first-time voter” clause in Form 6. A 58-year-old private-sector employee from Kothrud, having an EPIC and having voted previously, was away when the BLO visited his home for enumeration. So was his wife.“We will have to fill up Form 6 only because we missed the deadline to fill up the enumeration form. The first-time voter declaration need not be there,” the private firm staffer said.Election officials said if a particular person was absent during the enumeration form exercise, any adult member of the household was permitted to sign the form on his/her behalf. This option should have been used, they stressed.Meera Mohan, another voter filling Form 6, said an elector marked “shifted” could have moved from one constituency to another while remaining a registered voter, while an “absent” elector could simply have been away when the BLO visited home or missed an enumeration camp.“If an elector has been on the polling list for years but is left out of the draft roll after being marked absent or shifted, how can the person declare that he is applying for inclusion for the first time?” Mohan said.A poll official said, “The ECI has repeatedly highlighted the need to submit Form 6 if a voter’s name was missed during the enumeration exercise. The form currently being prescribed is under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960. Any change to the form would, therefore, require an amendment to the rules.”Local election officials suggested that voters submit Form 6 offline and strike out the declaration. No formal instruction has been issued, though.Civil rights activists want Election Commission of India to specify if absent and shifted electors should use Form 6 and how they should deal with the first-time enrolment declaration. “Should they explain that they were in the absent-shifted category or should they ignore the question in the declaration?” an activist asked.Another activist said the form should distinguish between first-time enrolment and inclusion of an existing elector whose name was missing from the roll. “They should issue guidelines to strike out the clause,” the activist said.
