How to make sure your vote counts this election

Posted on Apr 11 2014 - 4:46pm by IBC News

India is conducting the world’s largest elections ever. As Indians we should be very proud of the scale of this democratic exercise and the best efforts by election commission of India to ensure that you as a voter are empowered to cast your vote fairly and decide India’s future. But at the same time it is each and every Indian’s responsibility to ensure he exercises his vote responsibly making this election a grand success.

Here are the steps to be a very informed voter and cast your vote this election.

Your should have by now registered yourself as a voter and got an voters ID!

If you are over 18 years of age, it is your duty for the country to register yourself as an voter. You need to submit form-6 to election commission. If you still have not done that and included yourself in the electoral lists, please do it right away! The very least you can do this election as it is too late to register yourself and vote now.

But you do not need a voter’s ID for voting if you are already registered. Most probably you were registered and enrolled by your local ERO sometime who came door to door. If you have a voters ID all good but you can also carry any of the following documents to prove your age and ID if you believe you are a registered voter in your resident area:

1. Passports

2. Driving Licenses

3. Income Tax Identity (PAN) Cards

4. Service Identity Cards with photograph issued to its employees by State/Central Government, Public Sector Undertakings or Public Limited Companies.

5. Passbooks with photograph issued by Public Sector Banks/Post Office and Kisan Passbooks

6. Student Identity Cards with photograph issued by recognized Educational Institutions

7. Property Documents with photographs such as pattas, Registered Deeds

8. Ration Cards with photograph

9. SC/ST/OBC Certificates with photograph issued by competent authority

10. Pension Documents with photographs such as ex-servicemen’s Pension Book/Pension Payment Order, ex-servicemen’s Widow/Dependent Certificates, Old Age Pension Order, Widow Pension Order

11. Freedom Fighter Identity Cards

12. Arms Licenses with photograph

13. Certificate of Physical Handicap with photograph issued by Competent Authority

14. Ex-servicemen CSD canteen card with photograph

15. Sandhya Suraksha Scheme card with photograph

16. Job Cards, with photograph issued under NREG Scheme

17. Yashaswini Card with photograph

You can only be prevented to cast your vote if you fail to produce a document to support your photo identity. Voting rights can also be denied to certain class of people who are criminal convicts, who are convicted of electoral offence or are of unsound mind.

Know your Lok Sabha constituency name

Go to this site https://www.empoweringindia.org/new/searcharea.aspx where you choose your state, town/village and type your area name to find your constituency.Knowing your constituency is important to find out about your netas who are standing there for elections. You can also check if your name is on the voters list in your constituency.

Know your election date

Day 1 | 7 April | 6 constituencies Some seats in Assam and Tripura in the north-east.

Day 2 | 9 April | 7 constituencies All of Arunachal Pradesh in the Himalayas, plus the other north-eastern states Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland and half of neighbouring Manipur.

Day 3 | 10 April | 92 constituencies All of Chandigarh, Delhi, Kerala, and Haryana, plus seats in Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh, and the two seats in the island groups of Andaman, Nicobar and Lakshadweep.

Day 4 | 12 April | 7 constituencies North-east again – more in Assam, plus all of Sikkim and the rest of Tripura – and Goa’s two seats

Day 5 | 17 April | 121 constituencies The biggest day. All of Karnataka in the south, plus the rest of Odisha. Most of Rajasthan and seats in Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, plus remaining seat in Manipur.

Day 6 | 24 April | 117 constituencies The second biggest day. All of Tamil Nadu, and seats in Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, plus the rest of Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and the single seat in Pondicherry.

Day 7 | 30 April | 89 constituencies All of Modi’s powerbase state of Gujarat, plus all of Punjab, a large part of Andhra Pradesh, and more seats in Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, and the two seats in Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and Daman and Diu.

Day 8 | 7 May | 64 constituencies The rest of Andhra Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, all of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and 15 seats in Uttar Pradesh, plus more in Bihar and West Bengal.

Day 9 | 12 May | 41 constituencies Not an anticlimax. The biggest day in two of the most populous states: West Bengal, with its remaining 17 seats voting, and Uttar Pradesh with 18, along with the last seats in Bihar

Know your candidates

Go here type your pincode and find out about your candidates.Some other sites you can use to research more about about your candidates are:

https://myneta.info/

https://www.netapedia.in/

https://www.indiavotes.com/

It is very important you research your candidates well and vote for a candidate instead of on party lines. Do not vote for candidates with criminal records, corruption charges etc to ensure our parliament is run by good people.

Know your nearest voting booth

The site you used to find your constituency also lets you know your nearest voting booth. Go to this site https://www.empoweringindia.org/new/searcharea.aspx where you choose your state, town/village and type your area name to find your constituency and voting booth.Generally your neighbors will know as all of a neighborhood goes to vote at the same station, so ask around with your neighbors. Also your nearest school, panchayat, govt. office will be your voting station as the Election commission of India has made sure noone travels more than 1km to vote as well as every polling station take only a limited number of people for voting to avoid long lines and crowding.

Go and cast your vote without fail (Rain or Shine)

You will always find a polling station very near and you do not have to worry about crowding. Voting opens at 7am generally and closes at 7pm so you have plenty of time on that day to go and cast your vote!