Your first-time voting? Well, are you in the right hands? We are here to give you a basic overview of how to vote, how to check if your name is in the polling booths, and the whole shebang. Welcome to our essential voting guide for all college students and first-time voters.
There is a crucial thing you should remember about the elections and that is that the power to vote is a power that a lot of people in the world don’t have. The power to choose how the governance in your country works is a choice not a lot of people have and ultimately the power to hold the very people who run the government accountable is certainly not what a lot of people have. Voting is a right, a right that every person in this country has the power to exercise, and with that being said you all should exercise it too. The badge of being a part of the world’s largest democracy should be worn proudly!
Elections 2024 | The Ultimate Guide for the first-time voters!
Now let’s get started, shall we?
1) First and the most pivotal step would be your eligibility. To vote you must be 18 years of age (duh!!) and have a valid voter ID card. This article will not cover how to make one but if you are interested then you can visit Election Commision of India’s official website to view designated Voter registration centers or Voter service centers.
2) If or Once you have registered you will receive/have a Voter ID card which in some circles is also known as EPIC (Elector’s Photo Identity Card). This card is very important as it is essential for voting and serves as proof of your identity at the polling station.
Know More – How to Download E-voter ID Card Online?
3) Now comes the actual voting part, for that to happen we have to cross a few more hurdles, them being –
- Voter list – Before each and every election the ECI releases a voter list. It’s very important that you check if your name is on that list because if it’s not then you’ll waste quite a lot of time travelling to the booth and if you realize that you want to raise a query to the ECI of your locality you won’t have any time to do so. To do this you can visit electroalsearch.eci.gov.in or you can also check on the ECI’s voter helpline app. On the site, you can look up your name by your voter ID which is also called EPIC, Registered mobile phone number, or by your details such as name, D.O.B., etc.
- Documents – You have to bring your documents with you at all times, the most important one being obviously your Voter ID card and along with that any other approved identification document such as an Aadhar card, Passport, or Driving license.
4) Now we will actually cast our vote, once you reach the polling station you simply follow the instructions of the polling officials. You will be guided to an EVM (Electronic Voting Machine) to cast the vote for your respective candidate of choice.
5) This is a pretty important part as there are certain things you should keep in mind while you vote, them being –
- Verify your vote – Before leaving the polling station always verify that the vote has been vote has been cast correctly and without any outside interference.
- Secrecy of vote – Always remember that the vote you cast is secret. Don’t show your vote to anyone and please for the love of God do not take any pictures out of the polling booth.
6) Let’s say you aren’t able to vote on the day of voting for a variety of reasons like health or other things, there are two initiatives of the ECI you can use from their #NoVoterLeftBehind campaign.
- Proxy voting – If you are unable to vote in person due to certain circumstances (like being on duty in the armed forces, posted abroad, etc.) you can vote through a proxy. There are specific measures for voting through a proxy so it’s best you refer to the ECI’s website for that.
- Absentee voting – Absentee voting provisions may apply to certain categories of voters such as members of the armed forces, people in very remote areas, etc.
7) And that’s it, you have voted for the first time ever. Congratulations on being one of the first-time voters as you have conquered one of the most important way in which your average citizen can control the country’s policy-making!
With that all being said the Indian elections are a grand old machine and by design, it requires a lot of people and responsible leaders to keep it running as well as ever. Without this very thing, we would never have reached where we are today. So do your job for I assure you that all this effort won’t go to vain.
Aryan is your average go-to guy for everything tech, games and PHYSICS! Always looking for somehing niche to do, he never gets tired of chasing what nobody else is. Currently he’s pursuing ICE at AISSMS IoIT and coincidentally while he does knows how to speak in more than 3 languages all he can say these days is “amcha kadhe plane aahe”.
