How To Vote in India: A Complete Ultimate Guide

India is known as the largest democracy in the world. India has a federal form of government that Indian citizens elect through the national election in the country. Usually, these national elections are held after every five years in India. According to the constitution of India, every Indian citizen has the right to vote in the federal elections regardless of their colour, race, caste, region. It is also noteworthy that there are some requirements to cast a vote in these elections. Thus, the majority of the people always seem confused about How To Vote in India?

If you are a new or first-time voter of India, we can safely assume that you may also be confused about “how to vote in India”?

Undoubtedly this blog will clear all your doubts regarding “how to vote in India”? Don’t worry about anything if you will vote for the first time in an Indian election since you came to the right place. Here we will discuss everything about How To Vote #India in detail.

A Complete Guide On How To Vote in India

We already discussed the majority of the new or first-time voters seem confused about How To Vote In India? Here is the best ultimate guide on How To Vote #India:-

Meeting Requirements to Vote in India

To vote in Indian federal elections, you should meet different requirements. Here are the 3 key requirements that every individual should meet to vote in India:-

1. Qualify for resident voter’s registration

If you are a citizen of India, you must follow certain requirements to vote in India. India has a parliamentary form of government committed to free, regular, and fair elections at both central and state levels.

One of the major requirements for qualifying for resident voter registration in India is to complete 18 years of age. To start voting in the Indian elections, you should attain the age of 18 first. Your age for voting will be calculated as the first January of the year. Any citizen can’t be disqualified from voting in an election for their religion, gender, caste, or decent place of birth.

2. Prove you are a citizen

You can easily use your right to vote in India if you are a valid citizen and don’t obtain any other country’s citizenship. It is required that your place of residence in India be mentioned in your international passport.

It is noteworthy that if you are gone outside from your ordinary residence in India, you can still register to vote in Indian elections. But it is required that you prove that you are a citizen of India through your passport.

But, if you are not an Indian citizen, you can’t vote in India. 

3. Make sure you’re not disqualified

The key reason many citizens can’t vote in an election is that they are disqualified by law due to their corrupt activities. So if you want to vote in the upcoming election, you should make sure that any law does not disqualify you for voting.

There may be numerous reasons for being disqualified from voting in general elections, such as illegal activities, unlawful acts, and other offences. You can easily review the detailed list of crimes on the internet.

Registering to Vote in India

It is another one of the best tips for those who are confused about how to vote in India that they should register themselves first to vote in India. Here are the three easy steps you should follow to register yourself to vote:-

1. Submit a Form-6

If you want to vote in upcoming elections, you should fill out this form first. You must submit this Form-6 to the (ERO)Electoral Registration Officer of the Constituency assembly. 

It would help if you visited “www.eci.gov.in/” online to submit this form online. You can see that election forms are available for download in Hindi and English.

Then you should click on the online voter registration option. Here you will require to obtain a user name and unique password. Then it is a very easy, simple process that you should follow to register yourself.

2. Upload a passport size colour photo with the application

It is also necessary to provide proof of your residency and actual age. It is also considered that if you fail to upload your documents, then BLO(Booth Level Officer) can come to your address to collect the documents.

You can also submit your registration form offline if you aren’t comfortable submitting it online. For doing so, you should download the form online from the official website. Then make a photocopy of it and fill out the documents. After that, please send it to the voter’s centre of your constituency by speed post.

At the same time, you can also submit your voter’s registration form to the Booth Level Officer.

3. Submit an overseas form

You can easily vote if you are overseas but still an Indian citizen. For doing so, you should submit form 6A. 

After filling your Form 6A, you should submit it to the ERO (Electoral Registration Officer) of the constituency you live in India. The address must match the location in India as cited on your passport. Such voters are known as NRIs.

There are numerous forms for members of the police, armed forces, and others. You can easily find them on the internet through the official website of the election commission of India.

Casting Your Vote

It is another one of the most important steps of “how to vote in India”. In this stage, you go further for casting your vote in the federal election. There are three steps for casting your votes:-

1. Find polling stations

To cast your vote, you should find a polling station near you. You can find your nearest polling booth by visiting “www.eci.gov.in/”. There you can choose your district, state, an assembly constituency, and polling stations. 

2. Go to the polling place to vote

It would be best if you went to the polling booth in the afternoon, as in the afternoon, you can avoid the crowd. 

After reaching the polling station, you can go to any desks set up by numerous political parties and tell them your name. They will check your name in the given list and send you further.

Then when your turn comes, you should go inside the voting stand in the queue. After you have done your voting successfully, the voting staff will mark you with indelible ink on your finger or nail. You can’t remove that ink with any polish or thinners. The main purpose of those marks is to ensure that a specific voter cast votes only once.

3. Look for the machine

You will see the voting machine in a corner when you enter the voting room. Then you can press the symbol of your desired candidate to which you want to vote in the election. 

On the other hand, if the polling system is offline, you must stamp the right symbol on the ballot paper and put it in the box.

After that, it will be good to stay there for a minute to ensure that everything is ok and the machine is not beeping. It will become helpful in avoiding any errors.

Who Is Not Eligible To Use Vote In Indian Election?

According to the constitution of India, a person can’t vote in the Indian election if any law previously declared him ineligible for voting. There may be any reason behind such a decision—for example, some illegal activities or other unlawful acts. An individual who is not a citizen of India is not eligible to cast a vote in Indian elections as they are not registered in the electoral rolls. 

Final words

We have already provided you with the best ultimate guide on “how to vote in India”? We have also discussed ineligible individuals for voting in India. Thus, we hope that our blog will clear all your doubts regarding “how to vote #India”.