Any person who is:

  1. A citizen of India

  2. 18 years of age or above on the qualifying date(1st January of the concerned year).

  3. Enrolled in the electoral roll of India or the polling area of the Indian constituency where he/she resides.

  4. Overseas Indian citizens deemed to be ordinarily resident at address given in passport.

  5. Service Voters(member of Armed Forces) deemed to be ordinarily resident at their home address.

A citizen can fill the application Form-6 and submit it to the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) of his/her Assembly Constituency. Form-6 can be filled OFFLINE and ONLINE on Election Commission’s website(www.eci.nic.in). Once this Form is accepted, the applicant’s name will be included in the electoral roll as a voter.

A person who is of unsound mind and have been declared so by a competent court or disqualified due to 'Corrupt Practices' or offences relating to elections, is not entitled to be registered in the electoral rolls.

Go to the home page of website of the respective State CEOs and click on tab "Check your Name in the Voter's list".

EPIC stands for Electors Photo Identity Card. EPIC number is the voter card number of an elector.

No. A citizen cannot be enrolled as a voter in more than one place in the same constituency or in more than one constituency in view of the provisions contained under Section 17 & 18 of the Representation of People Act, 1950.

Universal Adult Suffrage means that the right to vote should be given to all adult citizens without discriminating on the basis of class, colour, caste, sex or religion. It suggests that the right to vote should be equally available to all and denying any class of persons from exercising this right is to violate their right to equality.

Electronic Voting Machine(EVM) is an electronic device for recording votes during elections. It consists of two units - a control unit and a balloting unit. It has replaced previously used ballot papers.

VVPAT or Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail is a machine that generates a slip of paper after the voter casts his/her vote in the Electronic Voting Machine. The paper slip will contain the serial number, name of the candidate (for whom vote has been cast) and symbol of the party/individual candidate.

NOTA or None Of The Above is a voting option available to the voters on EVMs that allows voters to reject all the candidates contesting elections in their constituency. It was introduced by Election Commission in October 2013 following a Supreme Court order.

Yes, Non Resident Indians or NRIs who have not acquired citizenship of any other country and are otherwise eligible to be registered as a voter at their place of residence in India, have voting rights in India.

The model code of conduct is a set of rules and guidelines issued by Election Commission of India(ECI) for political parties and candidates in order to ensure free and fair conduct of elections. It also acts as restriction on government announcements and freebies that can influence voters.

The Model Code of Conduct comes into effect from the date of announcement of election schedule by the Election Commission and remains operational till the process of elections are completed.

General elections are held throughout the territory of India, every 5 years in order to elect M.Ps and subsequently the Prime Minister of India.

Assembly elections are held in a particular state, every 5 years in order to elect M.L.As and subsequently Chief Minister of that state.

Election Commission of India(ECI) conducts elections to the Parliament(Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and The President).

Election Commission of India(ECI) conducts elections to the office of Vice-President.

Election Commission of India (ECI) conducts elections to the State Legislative Assemblies and Legislative Councils.

The State Election Commissions(SECs) conducts elections to Corporations, Municipalities and other Local Bodies in the concerned state. These elections are independent of the Election Commission of India.

The term of Lok Sabha is 5 years, generally. Article 83 (2) of the Constitution states that Lok Sabha shall have a normal term of 5 years from the date appointed for its first meeting. However, the President may dissolve the Lok Sabha before 5 years.

According to the Constitution, the maximum strength of the Lok Sabha can be 552. Article 81 of the Constitution provides that not more than 530 members will be elected from the States and not more than 20 members will be elected from Union Territories. Article 331 of the Constitution provides that not more than 2 members from the Anglo Indian Community may be nominated by the President of India, if in his opinion that community is not adequately represented in the Lok Sabha.

The Members of the Lok Sabha are elected through Parliamentary elections, which are held after every 5 years. Parliament of India makes provision with respect to all matters relating to, or in connection with the Lok Sabha elections, including the delimitation of constituencies, preparation of electoral rolls and all other matters necessary for securing the due constitution of the Lok Sabha. When the seat of a Member elected to the Lok Sabha becomes vacant or is declared vacant, or his/her election is declared void, the same is filled through bye-election.

As per article 84(b) of the constitution, a person is qualified to be a member of parliament provided:

  1. He/she is a citizen of India.

  2. He/she has completed 30 years of age in case of Rajya Sabha and 25 years of age in case of Lok Sabha.

  3. He/she should possess such other qualifications as may be prescribed by or under any law made by Parliament [Art. 84]

Each Parliamentary Constituency will elect only one M.P.

In 1951-52, 1st general election was held in India.

Once the results of general elections are declared and a political party or alliance gets a majority stake, then the MPs of the said party/coalition sit and elect a head(Prime Minister) for them, then the President invites that leader to form the government.

Sixteen General Elections to the Lok Sabha have been held till date.

Currently 532(13 seats vacant) MPs are there in the Sixteenth Lok Sabha.

In the Republic of India, candidates for election to the Lok Sabha must pay a security deposit of Rs.25,000 and for state assembly elections, the amount is Rs.10,000. For Scheduled castes and scheduled tribes candidates the amounts are Rs.12,500 and Rs.5,000 for Lok sabha and Assembly elections respectively. A defeated candidate who fails to secure less than one-sixth of the total valid votes polled in the constituency becomes ineligible for the return of security deposit.

The procedure for registration of a political party is mentioned below:

  1. The Election Commission of India issues a proforma for new political parties. It can be downloaded from the official website or obtained in person from the Commission’s office in New Delhi.

  2. The application should be as per the prescribed proforma, neatly typed having the political party’s letter head.

  3. The application should be accompanied with a demand draft of Rs. 10,000/-, which is the non-refundable processing fee. The demand draft should be in favour of the Under Secretary, Election Commission of India, New Delhi.

  4. The application should mention the party’s memorandum, list of rules and regulations, members and their details, particulars of bank account and PAN number issued in the party’s name, and about their constitution.

  5. The application and associated documents should reach the Secretary to the Election Commission of India within 30 days from the party’s formation date.

Yes. Current MLAs can contest in upcoming Lok Sabha elections. However, according to the Prohibition of Simultaneous Membership Rules, 1950, they will have to resign from the state legislature within 14 days of declaration of the Lok Sabha election results. Therefore, they cannot hold both the positions simultaneously.

Generally, three sessions of the Lok Sabha are held in a year.

  1. Budget Session(Feb-May)

  2. Monsoon session(July-Aug)

  3. Winter session(Nov-Dec)

A Member of Parliament is given Rs. 50,000/- per month as salary, Rs. 45,000/- per month as Constituency Allowance, Rs.45,000/- per month as Office Expense Allowance out of which Rs. 15,000/- is for meeting expenses of stationery items and postage; and up to Rs. 30,000/- is paid by the Lok Sabha Secretariat to the person/persons as may be engaged by a member for obtaining secretarial assistance. A Member also gets daily allowance of Rs. 2,000 for the period of residence on duty. Daily allowance will be paid only when he/she signs the register maintained for the purpose.

Yes, every person who has served as a Member of the Provisional Parliament or either House of Parliament for any period is entitled to a pension of Rs.20,000/- per month w.e.f. 18 May 2009. Where any person has served for a period exceeding five years, he/she shall be paid an additional pension of Rs.1500/- per month for every year in excess of five years. For the purpose of calculation of years for determination of additional pension, the period of nine months or more is treated as one complete year.

There are mainly three types of electors or voters in India-

  1. Resident Electors - residents of India who vote in their constituency.

  2. Service Electors - residents of India who work for the Indian Government away from their home or serving in the Armed Forces.

  3. Overseas(NRI) Electors - non-residential Indians who have not taken citizenship of any other country.

There are mainly three types of political parties in India :

  1. National parties (7)

  2. State recognized party (24)

  3. Registered unrecognized parties (2044).

The 7 National political parties in India are :

  1. Indian National Congress(INC)

  2. Bhartiya Janta Party(BJP)

  3. Bahujan Samaj Party(BSP)

  4. Communist Party of India(CPI)

  5. Communist Party of India-Marxist(CPI-M)

  6. Nationalist Congress Party(NCP)

  7. All India Trinamool Congress(AITMC)