SIR 2026 voter list: Name deleted? A step-by-step guide on how to get it added back — Form 6 explained

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has reportedly been taking corrective measures after the Indian Express' investigation revealed irregularities in the nationwide Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. The poll body has now directed the 20 states and Union Territories, where the exercise has been completed, to run a “special drive” to enrol voters “left out” of the electoral rolls.

The latest instruction was conveyed in writing on September 29 and repeated at a video conference with all state Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) on Thursday, the Indian Express reported.

Several reports claim that nearly 13.3 crore names were deleted from electoral rolls across the country so far in the SIR process. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has denied the claim in a Facebook post.

Out of the nearly 13.3 crore names, around 9.5 crore (over 71%) were marked in the ‘absent, shifted, and others’ category, according to data from the Election Commission (EC), as reported by The Hindu. Of the remaining, around 2.7 crore (just over 20%) were deleted due to death. Approximately 1.01 crore (7.6%) were flagged as cases of multiple entry.

“In State/UTs where SIR has already been completed, a special drive shall be undertaken by the Chief Electoral Officer, District Election Officers and EROs for the enrolment of left out and young/first time eligible electors under the process of continuous updation," the outlet reported, citing the letter sent by the Election Commission’s Secretary to all CEOs states on September 29.

That drive will run on a Form 6 (Application form for new voters).

Form 6 controversy

Last week, the India Express investigation revealed that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had objected on record 14 times in 10 months to decisions taken in the Commission’s name without their knowledge, including the change to Form 6.

Form 6 was changed in July this year. A separate declaration had been added to the physical form regarding the mapping of self or parents with electoral rolls from the period of the previous SIR.

The online form had begun asking applicants whether they, or their parents, were on the voters’ list after the last SIR. It would not let them submit without an answer.

SIRSIR

In August, Commissioner Sandhu had called the change “unauthorised/illegal”, the IE reported. Form 6 is attached to the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, and only the Centre has the power to amend the Rules, and by extension, Form 6.

Issuing a clarification later, Election Commission officials maintained that adding a separate declaration form with Form 6 and Form 8 (used for changing particulars) had been approved by the full commission when the SIR process began in Bihar last year and was again ratified in the second and third phases.

According to The Hindu, they said that Form 6, in itself, was never amended and that the declaration was merely added along with it.

Official reportedly claimed that the issue with the online submission of the form occurred due to changes made by the IT department. The changes were made so that a person filling the form does not have to e-sign twice — both in Form 6 and separately in the declaration. This meant that it had to be filled for the form to be submitted.

EC officials also said that the power to add the declaration form was upheld by the Supreme Court on May 27, 2026.

Do you have to submit this declaration now?

No. The September 29 letter now confines the declaration to “SIR phase only”. In the 20 states where the SIR is over, first-time voters and the “left out” will fill the plain statutory form, the report added.

This means that the Declaration Form attached with Form 6 will be used during the SIR phase only. For the non-SIR period, the Forms applicable as per the Registration of Electors Rules 1960 will be used, Tamil Nadu CEO Archana Patnaik said.

How to check online if your name has been deleted?

Visit https://electoralsearch.eci.gov.in/ to see if you are registered to vote. If your name appears in the list, you are eligible to vote, otherwise you need to register to vote.

Step 1: Go to voters.eci.gov.in or electoralsearch.eci.gov.in.

Step 2: Search Options: Select "Search in Electoral Roll" and look up your details using one of three methods:

• By EPIC Number: Enter your Voter ID / EPIC card number and select your state.

• By Details: Enter your name, relative's name, age, gender, and assembly constituency.

• By Mobile: Use your registered mobile number and verify via OTP

How to get your name added back in voter list?

If your name has been deleted from the voter list, you can simply get it added back by filling out Form 6 now. Form 6 is normally used to register new voters. But, during the SIR process, it was also used for re-enlisting those who had been deleted during the enumeration phase.

Visit https://voters.eci.gov.in for voter registration. Also, you can use Voter Helpline App (Android) and Voter Helpline App (iOS) to verify your name in the Electoral Roll or register online.

You can apply in Form-6 to enroll as a new voter through online or offline. If you move to a new address within the same constituency or shift to another constituency or another state, you have to apply in Form-8.

Fill Form 6 online: Step-by-step guide

You can submit Form 6 via Citizen Service Portal website or Voter Helpline App.

Step 1: Go to Citizen Service Portal website (www.nvsp.in) or installs Voter Helpline App/ECINET

Overseas voter need to fill form 6A (Link https://voters.eci.gov.in/)

Step 2: Click on 'New Voter Registration'

Step 3: Fill up Form 6; add details required, submit a self-attested copy of 'date-of-birth document'. Hit 'next'

Fill Form 6 Offline: Step-by-step guide

You can download Form 6 from here and submit it through a Voter Center or contacting your area's Booth Level Officer (BLO). You can find the full list of BLO's at www.ceodelhi.gov.in

Form 6 is also available free of cost in offices of Electoral Registration Officers / Assistant Electoral Registration Officers and Booth Level Officers.

The application accompanied by copies of the relevant documents can be filed in person before the concerned Electoral Registration Officer / Assistant Electoral Registration Officer or sent by post addressed to him or can be handed over to the Booth Level Officer of your polling area.

Call 1950 for any help. For more information read the Voter Brochure on https://ecisveep.nic.in.

What are the requirements to register to vote?

You can enroll as a voter if you:

1. Are an Indian citizen.

2. Have attained the age of 18 years on the qualifying date, i.e. 1 Jan, 1 April, 1 July and 1 Oct of the year of revision of the electoral roll.

3. Are ordinarily resident of the part/polling area of the constituency where you want to be enrolled.

4. Are not disqualified to be enrolled as an elector.

EC's direction to officials

1. At the Commission’s video conference with all state CEOs on Thursday, the Deputy Election Commissioner told CEOs, according to the report, to compare the pre-SIR roll with the post-SIR roll, draw up the list of those deleted, and identify any who may have been left out.

2. They have also been told to visit the houses, in cases, "especially if the voters are not mapped elsewhere or were not duplicates or not deceased and get their Form 6 filled up,” an officer told the Indian Express.

The “unmapped” category refers to those voters whose names or the names of their parents could not be mapped with the final electoral rolls prepared after the previous exercise in 2002 or 2005.

3. The CEOs have been asked to seek theassistance of political parties (or booth-level agents of political parties) for this exercise.

4. All CEOs have been asked to bring people back, if left out unjustly, via Form 6, the form for new voters.