Two things are required to vote in India, and people routinely confuse them:
- Your name must be on the electoral roll. No document can substitute for this. If you are not on the roll, you cannot vote, however much identification you carry.
- You must prove you are that person. This is what the identity document is for.
Sort the first one well in advance: check your name on the roll. The second is simpler than it looks.
The EPIC is the standard document
The Electors Photo Identity Card, the voter ID, is the primary identity document at the polling booth. If you have it, take it. Nothing else needs consideration.
If you do not have your EPIC
You are not automatically turned away. For each election, the Election Commission notifies a list of alternative photo identity documents that polling staff will accept.
That list is issued per election and can change. It is normally announced alongside the poll schedule and published by the Commission and by your state’s Chief Electoral Officer.
We deliberately do not reproduce a list here. A list copied from a previous election is exactly the kind of thing that sends someone to a booth with a document that is not accepted. Check the notification for your election:
- The Election Commission’s site at eci.gov.in
- Your state’s Chief Electoral Officer website
- The national voter helpline, 1950
Broadly, the alternatives tend to be government-issued documents carrying a photograph. But “tends to be” is not something to rely on at eight in the morning on polling day.
The voter information slip is not identification
Before polling, Booth Level Officers distribute slips carrying your name, part and serial number, and polling station. They speed things up considerably at the booth.
They are not proof of identity. You still need an accepted identity document. Carrying only the slip is one of the more common reasons people are turned away.
What to take
- Your EPIC, or an accepted alternative from the current notification
- Your voter information slip, if you received one
- Your part and serial number, written down or screenshotted: see finding your polling booth
If you cannot find the physical card, you may be able to download an e-EPIC and print it. Do this in the days before, not on the morning itself.
If you are challenged at the booth
Ask polling staff to search by part and serial number rather than by name. Names on the roll are transliterated and a name search frequently fails on an entry that is present.
Every polling station has a presiding officer responsible for these decisions. If you believe you are being wrongly refused, ask for them. Political party agents at the booth are not officials and do not decide who votes.
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