Register to Vote in India : Know About Registration Process

India is the largest democracy, and elections are an essential part of it. The state and Central Government both are elected by the people living in the country through elections where they cast their votes to choose the representative of their choice. It is conducted every five years, and anyone who has crossed the age of 18 years can appear to cast his or her vote in the election. Today in this article, we will be discussing how to register and take part in the voting.

How to Vote #India?

Requirements 

• First of all, you have to be more than 18 years old.  
• Only the citizens of India are allowed to take part. Even if you live overseas but haven’t acquired any other nation’s citizenship, you can still vote in India.
• You can be rejected to vote if there are any allegations related to election offenses against you or an unsound mind person.

How to Register to Vote #India?

• For registering, you have to fill a form called Form- 6. You have both online and offline options for doing this. For online, visit www.eci.nic.in.
• You are provided with both the Hindi and the English language. Choose the one that you prefer and download the form.
• When you are filling out an online form, you will have to get a username and password, and after that, things become simple.
• You have to provide citizenship proof, residential proof and age proof, photo, and few other documents. You can upload them online, and if you are unable to do so, a Booth Level Officer can also collect those from you.
• After filling up everything, it can be submitted online to the Voters Registration Centre of the constituency in which you fall. It can also be given to the Booth Level Officer.
• Even if you live outside the country and if you are a citizen of India, you can still get registered by filling a form called Form- 6A. Different forms have to be filled for people belonging to various departments like police, armed forces, etc. You can get all these details quickly by visiting the official website of the Election Commission of India.
• You have to select the option ‘Enroll as NRI’ if you are online registering. You will need to provide details like a photo and passport where your residential address is mentioned and a valid visa.

Process For Voting On The Voting Day

• Polling Station: You have to find your polling station’s details where you can go and cast a vote. If you don’t know about that, you can go to the site www.eci.nic.in. There are maps available for polling station details, and you can search for your one by entering details like your state, district, and constituency.
• Voting Day: On the day of the vote, go to the polling booth. You can prefer to go in the afternoon when there are fewer people to avoid a big queue. When you reach there, you have to double-check if your name is registered there. You can then stand in the voting line and wait for your turn.
• When your time comes, they generally ask for your and your father’s name, and after that, marking is done with an ink that is hard to be removed to avoid multiple votes by the same person.
• You are then allowed to enter the room where you have an electronic voting machine or the old manual system. But the manual method is becoming absolute nowadays.
• When you are ready to vote through the machine, you have to press the button to cast your vote to the desired candidate. Wait there for a few moments to check if any error occurs or the machine starts beeping due to some unwanted issue.
• If it is the manual one, you have to put the stamp on the provided ballot paper with the right party symbol to cast a vote.

There is also an app available called Voter Helpline App from where you can even fill the form. Your name can be checked from https://electoralsearch.in/. If your name is there, this means that you are registered and can vote. You can also call 1950 for any help.