India is the largest democracy on this planet. Our elections are of utmost grandeur in terms of both the number of voters and the number of candidates contesting elections. So if you are one of the participants of the Indian elections as in one of the millions and millions of voters then it is quite possible that you have the very important identity document called the voter id card.

If you plan to participate as voter in any of the Indian elections in 2014 and are not already a register voter then this very article could be your stair case to being a successful Indian citizen who is very well able to keep up his voice and make his opinion count by casting a vote.

To cast your vote, you need to register your name in the voter list of your constituency by the means of which you would be entitled for a voter id card issued by the election commission of India. So here we guide all the Indian citizens about how to apply for a voter id card online or offline by the means of this well structured and informative article.

How do Indians Apply for a Voter ID Card?

Indian democratic system is know not only for the scale at which it performs but also for the precision with which voter registration, electoral rolls, ballot boxes and electronic voting machines are handled. The election commission of India takes all the credit for this precision and it does deserve to do so. Therefore to improve the voting system and prevent cases of illegal voting, the photo voter id card was introduced in 1993. The reason for the success of this photo identity card was the fact that it complemented the photo electoral roll in a perfect manner. If the voter has voter id card with his photo on it, the polling officer could verify his identity very easily and hence leaving no room for illegal voting or bogus voting as we know.

So for all the Indian citizens who are still not registered to vote and do not have their voter id card, here is some information that would really help. In 2014, if you wish to apply for an election commission of India voter identity card, you must be an Indian citizen 18 years old as on 1st January 2014.

There are various ways through which you can apply for a voter id card in India. The different ways to apply can be categorized into 2 broad sections i.e the online method and the offline method. We shall deal with both these methods to apply for a vote id card in India, separately. Our first sub-sections answers the question- How to apply for a voter id card online?

Apply Voter ID Card Online

To apply for inclusion of your name to the voters’ list of your constituency and get your voter id card, you are obligated to fill the election commission of India Form No. 6. This form available through multiple avenue. Following are the ways you can access it : –

• Online on the election commission of India official website.
• Online on your state’s CEO official website.

There is a difference between a printable version of voter id card form no. 6 and the online version of the same. The printable version is also available on the ECI/CEO website(links provided below). Applicants can take out a paper print of this version and then fill it by hand and after that submit the same at the local ERO office in person. Whereas the online version of Form No. 6 could simply be filled using your mouse and keyboard and submitted there and then. On the online interface of the form you would have an option to upload your passport size photograph and other verification documents. It is not mandatory to upload the documents required to apply for voter id card online but doing so would surely save time. The same documents shall be collected by the BLO who pays a visit to your residence for verification post the acceptance of your application if you choose not to upload them.

[Also read: – A Comprehensive List of Documents and Forms Required for Voter ID]

Important Links to Check While Applying for Voter ID Card Online

Here are some really important links that you need to visit in order to successfully apply for a voter id card online in India.

• Enroll Now, Become a Voter [Clicking this link would take you to Election Commission of India’s official registration page]

After selecting your state then entering your mobile number and e-mail id, click proceed. On the landing page just input the confirmation code(you shall receive it via sms on your registered mobile number). After completing these steps, you would be able to access the online version of voter id card registration form no. 6. Fill in all the mandatory fields and upload your passport size photograph in .JPEG format. You can also upload the verification documents if you want but that is not mandatory.

• Download printable voter id card registration form no. 6[Click this link to download the printable PDF version of voter id card registration form no.6]

Once you have the physical paper print-out of the form, you can fill it by hand and submit it to the local ERO office either in person or by post. You would also need to attach the self-attested copies of verification documents along with 2 passport sized photographs with the filled application form.

[Also Read: – Easy Steps to Apply Online for Voter ID Card and Voter Registration.]

•  Click here to know your state’s CEO official website address.[This link would take you to a page where you can just select the name of your state from the drop down menu and you would be given the official website URL of the same state’s CEO web portal]

Exploring and visiting your state’s CEO website is useful in the sense that you can also apply for your voter id card registration on the same website. Apart from that, it is easier to access your constituency’s voter id list, if you searching for it on your state’s CEO website itself. These websites also allow you to check the voter id card application status.

Apply for Voter ID Card in India Without Internet

The IT team of the election commission of India has developed the voter id card online application facility to target urban households and sub-urban population who have a good access to the internet services. But that does not mean that the commission has forgotten the people who are not tech savy or do not have internet. This notion comes from the fact that voter in India can also easily apply for a voter id card even without internet.

To apply for voter id card offline, you have fill the same form that we mentioned in the previous section for online application. That form is the Form No. 6 for inclusion of name to the electoral roll. The only difference is the fact that if you want to fill this form without internet, you would have to procure it from the local electoral registration office(ERO).

Therefore the offline method for the voter id card application can be summarized in the following simple steps.

Simple Steps for Voter ID Card Offline Registration

STEP 1

Locate your nearest local ERO. You can find the address for the same on your state’s CEO website.

STEP 2

Line up at the office and procure the offline(paper) version of the voter id card registration form no. 6.

STEP 3

Fill in all the fields with correct spellings. Take utmost caution while entering information like name, age and address because you are only allowed to fill the form no. 6 once. If you later discover that you filled erred information but you have already been issued your voter id card then you would have to fill a separate form i.e the form no. 8 for getting a corrected voter card.

STEP 4

Attach 2 passport size photographs along with the documents required to apply for a voter id card in India. When you are submitting the printed version or the procured paper version of the form no. 6 at the ERO office then you must attach the following documents: –

• A Class 10th passing certificate as a D.O.B proof document. You can use any other government authorized proof of age too.
• 2 passport size photographs. Make sure they are clear and that your face completely recognizable. This photograph is going to be on your elector’s photo identity card or as we commonly call it, the voter id card.
• A bank statement sent to you by postal service at your address as a residence proof document. You can use a letter posted to you by any authorized government organization.

STEP 5

Once you have attached the above mentioned documents required for voter registration in India then you must submit the complete form at the same ERO office. You can send it by post or even go in person to submit the same.

STEP 6

Wait for a BLO(Booth Level Officer) to visit your residence to verify and confirm your identity. You can, in the mean time check your voter id card application status on the CEO website of your state. Here is a link to some states’ CEO website sections where you can check your voter id card status. Just click on the option below according to the state in which you have applied for a voter id card: –

• Check your voter id card status in Delhi.
• Check your voter id card status in UP
• Check your voter id card status in Andhra Pradesh.
• Check your voter id card status in Karnataka.[You would have to enter your login id and password for the CEO Karnataka website].
• Check your voter id card status in Maharashtra.

In all of the above links, when you are re-directed to the voter id card status search page of your respective CEO website, you would have to enter information like application id, district, assembly constituency, part number, form type, etc. The information you need to enter in order to know your application status differs and depends on your state’s CEO website.

STEP 7

Once your application is complete, successfully accepted and your identity is verified by the designated BLO, you would get your voter id card in a few months and your name would also shortly reflect in the voter id card list of your constituency. All this together would ensure that you are allowed an entry to your designated polling booth and exercise your right to vote for the person you feel is capable and deserving. Hence a voter id card, in this case, would help you perform the main duty of any democratic citizen and help you keep up your opinion. The importance of a voter id card hence can not be undermined.

How to Make Changes in the Existing Voter ID Card Details?

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How to get a Corrected Voter ID Card in India?

As we told you, you must adopt utmost care and precision while applying for a voter id card using the election commission of India form no. 6. However, if you still received an election card with wrong details or spelling errors then you would have to fill the voter id card correction form no. 8 for rectification of those erred details.

Online Application for Changes in Voter ID Card

Just like the form no. 6 for voter registration, you can also fill the election commission form no. 8 for correction of details online. Using this form, you can easily correct your incorrect/misspelled name or even wrongly specified age or address on your voter id card and in the voter list of your constituency. To access the form no. 8 online version, you can visit the election commission of India official website and click an icon that reads: – ‘Apply for Corrections‘.

Once you click the given option(present on the right side of the homepage along with other important option) you would be taken to a page identical to the one you are taken to after clicking the ‘Enroll Now, Become a Voter‘ option on the ECI website. Hence this time again, you would have to select you state and enter your e-mail address along with the mobile number you use. Then after clicking proceed, the next page would ask you to enter the confirmation code(you would receive it on your registered mobile number once you click proceed). Upon successful input of the confirmation code, you shall gain access to the online version of the form no. 8.

Then you can easily fill all the mandatory fields on the online form including personal details, details of the existing electors photo identity card and details about the correction or change that is needed on your existing voter id card. You would again require to submit the verification documents mentioned previously along with a photo copy of your existing voter id card(both sides) issued by the election commission.

The form no. 8 for making changes like address, age, name, etc. on your voter id card has 4 parts altogether. They go like: –

• Part 1- In this part of the form, you have provide information like name, age, sex, date of birth(with document proof), part number along with serial number of the voter list in which your name already exists and relation’s name of the applicant(husband/father/mother). Please make sure that all the details entered in all the parts of the form are correct.
• Part 2- In this part of the voter id card correction form by the election commission, you have to fill in details about your present address of ordinary residence along with proper document proof. Please note that if you are using a ration card as the proof of residence then you would need another document for residence proof along with it, the other document can be any of the following: –

Documents Required to Apply for Changes in Voter ID Card(Residence proof)

1. Bank/Kisan/Post office current pass book. or,
2. Ration Card/Passport/Driving license. or.
3. Recent electricity/gas connection/telephone bill sent to the same address with either the applicant as the recipient or his/her parents.

• Part 3- In the part 3 of the form for correction of details, you have to provide the details of your existing voter id card. These details include the card number(printed on the front side of the card) and date of issue which is printed on the back of your card. Also, you have to attach/submit/upload the photocopy of both the sides of your voter id card.
• Part 4- In this part of the form, the applicant has to provide details about changes in the voter id card required. In this section, you have put a tick mark on the details that need to be corrected on your voter id card and score out the alternatives that do not need require correction. Therefore you have to very carefully fill out this section of the form no. 8 if you wish to receive a completely corrected voter id card and also to ensure correct entry of your voter details into the voter list of your constituency.

Once you have submitted the application and it is successfully accepted by the officials, the changes shall soon reflect in the voters’ list. To make sure that has actually happened, you can search the electoral roll of your constituency by visiting the CEO website of your state or perform a national voter id card search on the ECI official website. Here is the link to search your name from eci.nic.in: – http://electoralsearch.in/

If you are unable to, or do not wish to fill this form no. 8 online, you can procure the same from the local ERO office and then fill in the details by hand and then submit the same at the same office either in person or by post. You can also take a print out of the PDF version of the Form No. 8 and then fill the same by hand if you do not wish to line up at the ERO office. CLICK HERE to download the printable version of voter id card details correction form no. 8

Help! I have Lost my Voter ID Card

If you have lost your voter id card in India and hence want to apply for a duplicate voter card then you would have to follow the following steps.

STEP 1

Go to your nearest police station and file a FIR reporting the loss of your election card. Keep a copy of the filed FIR with yourself.

STEP 2

Procure the election commission of India form no. 002 from the local ERO office.

STEP 3

Fill in all the information and attach the required verification documents(see the previous sections).

STEP 4

Attach the copy of the filed FIR along with the application form and the documents.

STEP 5

Submit the completed application at the local ERO office. You can also submit it by post.

In the mean time when your application is being processed by the officials, you can keep a check on duplicate voter id card application status on the CEO website or by contacting the officials at the ERO office. Their contact information could also be found on the CEO website of your state.

[Also Read: – How to apply for a duplicate voter id card?]

How to Apply for Voter ID Card Online in Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, UP, Karnataka and Kerala

Although citizens from Delhi, AP, UP, Karnataka and Kerala can simply fill the online form no. 6 for a new voter id card application from the ECI website by applying the steps mentioned previously, here, we provide you with the steps to apply for a voter id card directly from the CEO website of your own state. Advantage of applying from the state’s CEO website is the fact that these websites have localized information like local voter lists, lists of claims and objections to the electoral roll, etc. Also, on the CEO website, it is easier for the voter id card applicant to keep a check on the voter id card application status.

Voter ID Card Delhi

To apply for voter id card in Delhi online, you can visit ceodelhi.gov.in and click on ‘Enroll Online‘. On the landing page you would have to enter your login id and password or if you are not registered on the CEO Delhi website, then on the landing page you can click on ‘New User! Sign Up!‘ and register yourself. Post completing all these formalities, you can access the online application page.

Voter ID Card Andhra Pradesh

In order to apply for voter id card in Andhra Pradesh, visit www.ceoandhra.nic.in. Click on E-Registration tab. Select the option: – Form 6(New Enrollment)

You would then gain access to online form 6 for voter registration in Andhra Pradesh. You must fill in all the mandatory fields and then upload a passport size photograph(option available on the form itself). Then click translate for translation of your details to Telugu. Post completion of the application, just click ‘Submit’. You would then be provided a unique application id. You can use this very id to check your voter id card application status in Andhra. CLICK HERE  to check status of your application.

Voter ID Card UP

Click here to apply for voter id card in Uttar Pradesh.

Voter ID Card Karnataka

For voter id card Karnataka, visit http://ceokarnataka.kar.nic.in/ that is the official CEO website for Karnataka. On the left hand side you can click the button that reads ‘Enroll online as voter, Form(6)‘ Here too you need to be a registered user on the CEO Karnataka website. To search your name in the voter list Karnataka, click on this link: – http://164.100.80.163/ceo1/searchHome_new.aspx

Voter ID Card Kerala

CEO Kerala official website is www.ceo.kerala.gov.in. Here you can apply for online voter registration, by clicking here.