Hello friends, in today’s article we will tell you ‘How to vote in India?’ It is necessary to have, the process of voting and many other related and important information will be told. That is why you read this article completely because today we are going to tell you in detail about how to vote in India. So stay with our article.
How to Vote India
The Constitution of India gives the right to vote at the age of 18. Earlier the voting age was 21 years. When any youth of India attains the age of 18 years, then the options of voting are opened for him. There are many such youth in the country who go to vote for the first time.
There is a different enthusiasm among those who get a chance to vote for the first time. But first time voters have some confusion about the whole process.
So how do they vote? There is no information about it. They do not even know from where the voting process starts? What kind of rules and documents are mandatory in this? Keeping this in mind, for the ease of such people, today we will give information about the entire process from getting the name added to the voting list to voting.
India is the largest democratic country in the world. The federal government here is elected by elections every five years. The citizens of the country directly participate in this electoral process. In our democratic country, the people have the right to choose the leader according to their choice.
Voting or voting by the public is required. Every citizen of India has to register his vote. Voting is a legal right of the Indian people. According to the Constitution of India, the Election Commission has the right to conduct regular, free and fair elections in the country.
All matters related to the conduct of elections and post-election disputes have been included under the Representation of the People Act, 1950 and the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
What is the Minimum Age to Vote?
When the constitution came into force in India, the voting age was kept at 21 years. But after this, in the year 1988, Parliament reconsidered it and reduced the voting age from 21 to 18 years. Which we know today as the 62nd Constitution Amendment. Since then, the voting age has been kept at 18 years only.
Any Indian citizen above this age can vote in elections by getting his identity card made.
How to Vote in India ?
The same person can participate in the election process who is registered as a voter in the Election Commission of India i.e. Election Commission of India. To register or get your name registered, it is necessary to fulfill the following requirements –
- Be a citizen of India.
- The age of the person should be 18 years.
- Must be an ordinary resident of the constituency in which the nomination is sought.
- Who has not been disqualified from being enrolled as a voter.
How to Cast your Vote in the Election
- Name in Voter List/Electoral List
- Any person can vote only if his/her name is included in the voter list/electoral list. Verify your name in the voter list through any one of these.
- Log in to electoralsearch-in.
- Call Voter Helpline 1950.
- Type <ECI> Lisl <EPIC No> and send the message to 1950. For example, if your EPIC number is 12345678, send the ECI 12345678 message to 1950.
Download Voter Helpline Application
Candidates Information
When your name will be registered in the voter list/election list, then you will have to select your candidate by searching your name in the voter list/election list. Before voting, it is important to know which candidate or candidates are running in the election. After knowing the candidate, one should know the election symbol of that candidate. You can also find out the polling booth in the constituency.
If you want to see the list of candidates who have filled their nomination papers then you can use Voter Helpline App.
Locate the Polling Booth before the Election
You have to go to the polling booth to vote, so it is important to know about your polling booth. To know which polling booth you can go to and cast your vote, you can contact your booth level officer or the polling booth information will also be available in the voter slip provided by the Election Commission.
Apart from this, you can also get its information online.
How to get Polling Booth Information Online ?
For the information of your polling booth, you have to go to the official website of the Election Commission. Now click on MENU, you will see the option of Know Your Polling Booth, click there. Now click on Continue. A form will open with you which you have to fill.
After filling all the details correctly, click on the search option. After this, you will have complete information about the polling booth along with the map that will appear on your computer screen.
Go to the Polling Booth on Election Day
You will see booth workers of all parties at different desks at the polling booth. Go to any desk and match your name with the voter list. Stand in line with the voter ID card in your hand.
When your turn comes, give your voter ID card along with the ballot slip to the polling personnel. After verifying you will be allowed to vote.
Carry All these Documents
If you are going to vote, then you must carry the voter slip provided by the Election Commission. Voter slips are provided to the voters by the Election Commission 1 day before the election. If you have not received the voter slip, then there is nothing to worry about. If your name is in the voter list, then you should take voter ID or any identity card and match your name with the booth workers there and take voter slip.
Go to the polling booth only with the following documents –
- identification card
- It is mandatory for the voter to carry any valid ID card to vote.
- The voter should carry the following ID card –
- EPIC (Voter ID Card)
- Passport
- driving license
- service identification card with photo
- Bank or post office passbook
- pan card
- Smart card issued by the Registrar General of India, under NPR
- MNREGA job card
- Health Insurance Smart Card of Ministry of Labor
- Pension documents with photo
- Official Identity Cards issued to MPs/MLAs/MLCs.
- Aadhar card
Procedure to Vote at Polling Booth
First of all you have to see on which date the election will be held in your area and where your booth has been made in it. So that you do not go to any other booth.
After this you take your voter card and go to the respective booth. There the people associated with the polling will see your name in the voter list and if your name is found then they will start the process ahead of you so that you can cast your vote.
If your voter card is not found or lost, then you can also carry many other identity cards as your ID at that time. recognized by the Election Commission. In this, your Aadhar card, Voter card, if you work in a limited company, then your photo identity card issued by that company, your name passbook with your photo issued by a bank or post office, your PAN You can cast your vote by taking any one of these documents like card, MNREGA card, pension related documents, health card. But in all this, you should always keep Aadhar card or voter card in priority.
If your photo matches with the ID, the polling officer will ink your finger so that you cannot cast your vote again. After this, you will be made to sign in the voter list and if you are illiterate then you will be asked to put your thumb. then all this you will be given a slip.
After this, you will have to go ahead and submit a slip given to you and also show the ink in your hand. After which you will be able to go to the booth to cast your vote.
Inside the booth, you will see a machine installed in front of you, which we know as MTD. In which the photograph of all the candidates will be there and a blue button will be made in front of their photo. Press the button next to the candidate for whom you want to cast your vote.
You will hear a beep once you press the button. This beep means your vote has been cast and you can go now.
VVPAT, which has gained a lot of use in the recent elections, in which you will see the serial number of your candidate, his name and photo as soon as you press the button. You will see all this on this display for 7 seconds. Which will be the proof that your vote has been cast to the right candidate.
If you want to vote but no candidate of your choice is standing in the election then you can also press NOTA (None Of The Above) button. Which means you do not consider anyone worthy of vote. This button is given at the last.
While leaving the house to vote, you should keep in mind that mobile phones or cameras etc. are not allowed inside the polling booth. So keep all these things inside the house and go to vote.
Whenever you go to vote, always keep confidential about whom you are going to vote. Even the people associated with the election do not have the right to ask this matter, so if someone asks you, then you can also complain to the Election Commission.
How to Use EVM (VVPAT)?
EVM stands for Electronic Voting Machine and VVPAT stands for Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT).
As soon as you enter to cast your vote, you will see the EVM in the corner of the voting compartment. Now to vote for your favorite candidate, press the button next to his election symbol. You will hear a 7 second beep. During this, you will see the election symbol of the candidate in the VVPAD for verification.
This will make it clear that your vote has been cast correctly.
As soon as you leave after casting your vote, the polling personnel will put voting ink on the nail of your left hand. Selfie zones are also arranged in many places. Here people also take selfies after voting.
Make Voter ID Card
No person can cast vote without voter ID card. This is an important document for voting. For this you have to add your name in the voter list. A booth level officer is appointed by the Election Commission in all the panchayats to make voter ID cards. Their job is to provide voter ID cards for new voters. Along with this, voter ID cards are made available to all those people whose voter ID card has been lost or damaged due to any reason.
Voter ID Card Making Process
There are 2 process for making voter ID card – offline and online. Both the processes are quite simple. You don’t need to worry too much for this. If you are not very technical then you can get your voter ID card made offline only. But if you know a little technology very well, then it will be very easy for you to make Voter ID card sitting at home online. Here we will tell you about both the methods.
Offline Voter Id Card
To get your voter ID card made through offline process, you will have to meet the booth level officer of your panchayat.
You will be given a form to add your name to the voter list. In this form, you have to fill all the information correctly like your name, address, phone number, house number etc. For date of birth verification, school admit card or birth certificate will have to be attached.
After this, a passport size photograph has to be affixed in that form and it will have to be submitted to the booth level officer. After this, your voter ID card will come within 1 month. Which you can get from the same booth level officer.
Online Voter ID Card
You must have mobile number, email id and any address proof to generate voter ID online. Aadhar card, bank passbook, birth certificate, driving license, passport, etc. can be given for address proof. First of all you have to go to the official website of Election Commission of India.
Then you have to go directly to the National Voters’ Service Portal now. Here you have to go to the option of Register as New Elector / Voter and click on Login / Register. Now here you click on Register as a new User.
Now a form will open with you. Here you have to verify it with OTP by entering your mobile number. If you have MachPub number then click on have EPIC number. Now you have to choose your name, email id and password and click on register.
After that you have to login. Here you have to login by entering your email id or mobile number and password. Now here you will see the option of Fresh Inclusion / Enrollment, click on it. Then your registration process will start from here.
Now as soon as you will be asked in the form, all the things will have to be filled correctly. Aadhar card, birth certificate, driving license etc. have to be scanned and uploaded for identification. After the completion of all the process, you will get the option to download Voter I’d Card Online within 1 month. From there you can download your Voter ID Card.
Voter ID Card will reach Home by Post
If you register for your voter ID card by visiting the website of the Election Commission, then after 1 month the voter ID card will reach your home. It is absolutely free, in this you do not need to pay any kind of fee. You can apply your Voter ID online through your smartphone.
Procedure to Vote Sitting at Home
An amendment was made to the election rules in June 2020. In which such people who have been included in the Kovid positive patients will not need to go to the polling booths. They can cast their vote secretly sitting at home. For this, the Election Commission is committed to providing postal ballot papers to their homes.
For this, such persons who are above 80 years of age, physically handicapped and Kovid-19 patients can go to the official website of the Election Commission and download Form 12 (D). After filling this form properly submit it to the Booth Level Officer (BLO) within 5 days of notification of poll.
FAQ
1. Can I take the phone to the polling booth?
Answer – Mobile phones, cameras etc. cannot be taken in the polling booth.
2. What should be the minimum age of a person to vote?
Answer – The minimum age of a person to vote should be 18 years.
3. What is Voter Helpline Number?
Answer – Voter helpline number is 1950.
4. What is the meaning of EVM?
Answer – EVM stands for Electronic Voting Machine.
5. What is the meaning of VVPAT?
Answer – VVPAT stands for Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail.
6. How does the voter choose his representative?
Answer – The voter chooses his representative by voting. Every citizen of India who is above 18 years of age has the right to vote.
7. How to vote by postal ballot?
Answer – This facility is available only to some people. For this, after downloading the Form 12D by going to the website of the Election Commission, fill it thoroughly and submit it to your nearest BLO.
8. What is Voting?
Answer – When a person who has attained the age of 18 years chooses the candidate/candidate according to his wish, then it is called voting.
9. What is the name of the voting machine?
Answer – The name of the voting machine is Electronic Voting Machine.
Conclusion
In today’s article, we have provided you detailed information about ‘How to Vote in India?’. In this article we have provided you information about how to cast your vote in the election and the complete process of voting at the polling booth. If you have any doubt related to the voting process, then you can ask in the comment box below, your doubt will be cleared. If you liked the article then share it with your friends so that they can also know ‘How to vote in India?’
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