Six states have a Legislative Council: Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh. Graduates and teachers there vote for some of its members, provided they are on a separate electoral roll that is prepared afresh before each election. Being on the last one is not enough.
For these seats, graduate voter registration is done on Form 18; teachers use Form 19.
Who can enrol
Section 27 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 sets the tests, with 1 November of the year the roll is prepared as the qualifying date. You enrol where you ordinarily live, not where you studied or work.
- Graduates: a degree from a university in India, or a qualification your state has notified as equivalent, held for at least three years before that date. The three years run from the day your result was declared, not your convocation.
- Teachers: at least three years of teaching in total within the six years before that date, in institutions in the state that the state government has notified as being of at least secondary-school standard. Full-time teachers qualify, including ad hoc staff; part-time teachers do not.
A graduate teacher who meets both tests can be on both rolls.
Why you have to apply again
Your entry on the ordinary roll normally carries forward through each revision. These rolls are rebuilt instead: the Election Commission’s instructions require them to be prepared afresh before every biennial election and bye-election.
So everyone applies again, including those on the old roll, whose entry does not count towards eligibility.
When to apply
Under Rule 31 of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, the Electoral Registration Officer publishes a notice by 1 October and accepts applications until 6 November.
This year the Commission has ordered fresh rolls, with 1 November 2026 as the qualifying date, for the Mahabubnagar-Rangareddy-Hyderabad and Warangal-Khammam-Nalgonda graduates’ constituencies in Telangana and the East-West Godavari and Krishna-Guntur teachers’ constituencies in Andhra Pradesh. The first deadline is 6 November 2026. After that you can still apply while claims and objections on the draft roll are open, and later until the last date for nominations, but applying by 6 November puts your name on the draft roll.
Forms and documents
- The form, from the Election Commission’s forms page, with an unsigned passport-size colour photograph.
- Proof of qualification: graduates can use the degree or diploma certificate, or a mark sheet clearly showing a pass; teachers need a certificate from the head of each institution they taught at, and teachers at private schools, aided or unaided, also need a certificate or countersignature from the District Inspector of Schools or the state’s equivalent officer.
- Your ordinary roll details: the form asks for your assembly constituency, part number and EPIC number, which you can look up online. Some states also ask for proof of residence.
Aadhaar is voluntary: the Commission has told officials not to insist on it or reject a form without it.
Where to file
Hand the form to the Electoral Registration Officer, an Assistant Electoral Registration Officer or a Designated Officer, taking your original certificate for checking. If you post it, copies must be attested by a Designated Officer, a gazetted officer or a notary. Either way, your Booth Level Officer may visit to check where you live.
The Commission has told Chief Electoral Officers to offer online filing, and some, including Telangana’s this year, do; the ECI’s voter portal does not.
Bulk applications are refused, though an institution’s head may forward staff forms and one person may file for family at the same address. Bundles from parties or resident welfare associations are not considered.
When the draft roll appears on the Chief Electoral Officer’s website, check your entry while claims and objections are open.
Keep your ordinary registration
These rolls give you a vote in that council election only. Your vote for the Lok Sabha and the Assembly still depends on the ordinary roll. There is no separate voter ID card: your existing EPIC number goes on the council roll.
If you are not on the ordinary roll, apply with Form 6 as well.
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