✶ Article 326 · Universal adult franchise
Any Indian citizen aged 18 or over on a qualifying date, ordinarily resident in a constituency and not disqualified by law, can vote. Here is how to get on the roll, find your booth and use the machine.
Franchise never asks for or looks up your personal details. Every lookup below links to the Election Commission's own portals.
Before polling day
Apply online, through the Voter Helpline app, or on paper to your Electoral Registration Officer. You need a photograph, proof of age and proof of address. Since 2022 there are four qualifying dates a year (1 January, 1 April, 1 July and 1 October), and you can apply in advance from age 17.
Once enrolled you receive an Electors Photo Identity Card. An e-EPIC can be downloaded as a PDF. Being on the roll is what entitles you to vote: the card is just the most common ID.
Each polling area has a Booth Level Officer who verifies new applications at the door and hands out voter information slips before polling day. Rolls are revised every year, with special revisions before major elections.
Indian citizens living abroad without another citizenship can register at their passport address. They must currently vote in person at that polling station.
Step through · Polling day
Every polling station follows the same sequence, from Ladakh to Lakshadweep.
Step 1 of 6 · Before polling day
Your voter information slip (distributed by the booth-level officer) gives your polling station and serial number. You can also look it up on electoralsearch.eci.gov.in or via the Voter Helpline app.
Step 2 of 6 · Polling station
Polls usually run 7 am to 6 pm. Anyone in the queue at closing time is allowed to vote. Separate queues for women and priority for seniors and voters with disabilities are common.
Step 3 of 6 · Identity check
Your name is checked on the marked copy of the roll. Show your EPIC or one of 12 alternative photo IDs ECI accepts, such as Aadhaar, passport, driving licence or PAN card.
Step 4 of 6 · Ink & register
Indelible ink is applied to your left forefinger, you sign or thumb-print the register of voters (Form 17A), and you receive a voter's slip.
Step 5 of 6 · Control unit
The officer takes your slip and presses “Ballot” on the control unit, enabling the ballot unit for exactly one vote.
Step 6 of 6 · Voting compartment
Press the blue button next to your candidate (or NOTA). A beep sounds and the VVPAT shows a slip with the serial number, name and symbol for 7 seconds before it drops into a sealed box.
EVM + VVPAT
EVMs have been used in every constituency since 2004. Since 2019, every machine has had a Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail printer attached.
Try it · Electronic Voting Machine + VVPAT
A mock ballot with made-up candidates and shapes standing in for party symbols. Real machines are standalone and never connected to a network.
Control unit · polling officer
Busy
Votes stored: 0
Ballot unit · voting compartment
Ready
VVPAT · paper trail
Slips in sealed box: 0
“None of the Above” has been the last button on every ballot since the Supreme Court's 2013 ruling in PUCL v. Union of India. It lets you reject every candidate secretly. NOTA votes are counted and published, but they cannot change the result: the candidate with the most votes still wins.
After counting, VVPAT slips from five randomly chosen polling stations in every assembly segment are counted by hand and matched to the EVM totals (Supreme Court, 2019). In April 2024 the Court declined to order a 100% paper count or a return to paper ballots.
Each candidate appears with a party symbol, allotted by ECI under the Symbols Order of 1968, so that voters who cannot read can still find their choice. This demo uses plain shapes instead of real symbols.
Other ways to vote
Voters aged 85 and over and voters with a benchmark disability of 40% or more may choose to vote by postal ballot from home (Form 12D), with polling staff visiting.
Members of the armed forces and of central forces posted away from home vote by Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot (ETPBS) or through a proxy.
Officials and police on poll duty vote by postal ballot or at a facilitation centre, or with an Election Duty Certificate at the booth where they are posted.
Ballot units carry Braille numbering. Blind or infirm voters may bring a companion over 18 to vote on their behalf. Ramps, wheelchairs and volunteers are provided, and assured minimum facilities are required at every polling station.