How to cast Vote by Post in India
Casting a vote by post is also known as Postal Voting. Postal voting is useful for those people who may not be able to attend the polling station in person due to some specific reasons. In India the right to cast vote by post is restricted only to some categories of voters.
In this article we will know how to cast Vote by Post in India.
What is vote by Post?
Vote by post or postal voting is a method in which the ballot papers are posted out to some specific voters who are eligible and have requested for postal voting. Such people then fill the ballot paper and return them with some form of certification by a witness along with their signature so as to prove their identity.
Who is Eligible for Postal Voting?
There are six categories of voters in India who are eligible to use postal Ballot. They are:
1. Service voters – This includes the armed police force of the state who are serving outside the state, those in force who are covered by Arms Act and those who are employed by the government of India and working in a post abroad like the embassy staff.
2. Special voter – Special voters are those people who are holding offices that have been declared by the President to be officers in which sub – section (4) of Section 20 of the Representation of the People Act applies. This includes the President, the vice – president, governors of states and ministers of the Union or of the states.
3. Wives of special voters and special voters.
4. Voters subjected to preventive detention
5. Voters on election duty
6. Notified Voters
If you are not eligible for postal ballot you may want to know how to register to vote in India.
How do eligible people avail postal vote?
Service voters – In each constituency the names of service voters are registered in the last part of the electoral roll. The returning officer of the constituency ensures the dispatch of postal ballot papers to the service voters.
Special Voters – Those special voters who wish to cast vote by post should apply to returning officer at least 10 days before the date of polling. Then the returning officer dispatches the postal ballot to him / her.
Voters subjected to preventive detention – The government of India informs the returning officer of the names of such voters along with their address, electoral roll numbers and the place in which they are kept in detention.
Voters on election duty – They should apply for this facility at least 7 days before the polling date.
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- Overseas voters must vote in person at the assigned voting place where their Indian passport adress indicates.
