The Lok Sabha General Elections are scheduled for April 24, 2014 and will be undertaken in 9 phases throughout India. However, many voters have found out that their names have been struck off from the electoral roll. Some reasons are that many have migrated to other places in India, changed their address, got transferred, got married, etc.

If you are one from the above list or simply don’t have an election ID card, here is your chance to vote. According to the Election Commission Mumbai, people who are eligible voters can vote for their leader in their polling center if they have a voter slip.

Issue of Voter Slip

The Election Commission of India will issue a voter slip to each voter who shows his or her identity proof, age proof, and proof of residence. You need to visit your polling station with the required documents.

There will be various government teachers and officials for this special task. The SSC and HSC teachers have been roped to be a part of the polling staff. They will work till March 24th on this task – registration of Election Commission of India endorsed voter slips.

After the registration for the voter slip, the voter slips will be distributed on April 5th onwards – the last day when candidates will be able to file their nominations for the elections.

Importance of the Voter Slip

The voter slip will have the name of the voter, address of the polling station where he is eligible to vote, colour photograph of the voter, room number, and miscellaneous details. Once the voter gets this Election Commission of India certified voter slip, he or she can vote as it will have his or her name in the election commission of India endorsed electoral roll.

During scrutiny by the ECI, about 23 lakh voters had their names struck off from the electoral rolls. The Election Commission of India voter slip will help voters to update their present status and enlist themselves in the correct electoral roll. This includes voters who don’t have their names in the old lists as well.

How to Find Name in the Voter List

To make things easy, the ECI has directed the CEO Mumbai to allow voters to find out the status of their names in the voter list by…

• Dialling a helpline 1950 to know the status
• Sending an SMS – EPICID < Voter ID> to 9869889966
• Visit any polling stations of their constituency to find out about their voter registration ID

Political Parties Kept at Bay from the Polling Station

There also another reason to issue this voter slips. The ECI wants to do away with political parties which issued independent voter slips just before the elections. They also stayed near the polling booths in kiosks so as to guide the voters to the polling booths and room numbers. However now, with the issue of the voter slips there will not be any need for such kiosks.

A code of conduct will be specified in the slip itself to ensure voters follow the legal and ethical rules to vote for their leaders. With the issue of the voter slip the election commission of India electoral roll will also be updated.

NRI Voting

There are many Non-Resident Indians (NRI) want to vote for elections in India as they are eligible Indians. Many have a valid voter card too. However, can they vote online? The voters had to fill in form 6A to register for their voter ID card.

Some per directives from Election Commission India, NRI voting is possible only if they are available in person in the polling station of their home constituency in India. The pros and cons are being considered by Election Commission of India for NRI voting.

Registering yourself to get the voter slip will keep your name from being de-listed in the electoral roll. Don’t lose the opportunity to vote this year. Make sure you have a valid voter slip with you.