Why must one fill Form 6 even if already a voter? Question from the Supreme Court

During the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Delhi, why are those whose names did not appear in the draft list being forced to fill Form 6, which is meant for new voters? The Supreme Court has posed this question to the Election Commission. According to Live Law and a report by Bar and Bench, the bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant raised this question during the hearing on an application regarding the lack of transparency.

The Court observed that Form 6 is for first-time registration, whereas Form 8 is for correcting names or addresses. If a person's address has changed, why are they not being given the opportunity to make corrections through Form 8? Justice Joymalya Bagchi stated that the right to vote is an extremely important right and cannot be taken away so easily. He also spoke about the 'structural inconsistency' present in the process.

According to the petitioners' counsel Prashant Bhushan, approximately 43 lakh people have been excluded from the draft list. These people were in the old list but could not fill the enumeration form due to change of address or other reasons. Representing the Election Commission, senior advocate Damayanti Nayadu stated that SIR is an evolving process and steps are being taken to address the concerns.