An Indian citizen living abroad can be on the electoral roll. The route is Form 6A, the application for inclusion of an overseas elector, filed under Rule 8B of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.
Who qualifies
You must be an Indian citizen who has not acquired the citizenship of another country, hold a valid Indian passport, and be absent from your place of ordinary residence in India because of employment, education or otherwise.
The citizenship condition is absolute and is where most applications fail. If you have taken another country’s nationality you are no longer eligible, whatever your ties to India. An Overseas Citizen of India card is not Indian citizenship.
Which constituency
Not where you live abroad. Your application goes to the Electoral Registration Officer of the constituency covering the Indian address printed in your passport.
That address decides everything: which roll you appear on, which candidates are on your ballot, and where you would have to be to vote.
What you need
- A recent passport-size colour photograph.
- Self-attested copies of the passport pages showing your photograph, your Indian address, and the valid visa endorsement.
- If you apply in person, the original passport for verification.
You can file online through the Election Commission’s portal at voters.eci.gov.in, by post, or in person. Registration runs year-round under continuous updation, so you are not limited to a revision period.
Surrender an existing EPIC
If you already hold a voter ID from an earlier registration in India, it must be surrendered along with Form 6A. Overseas electors are listed separately and you cannot hold both entries.
How it is verified
The Electoral Registration Officer sends a Booth Level Officer to the Indian address in your passport, who makes enquiries with relatives there. Where no relative is available or willing to give a declaration, the documents are sent for verification through the Indian Mission in your country of residence.
This is worth knowing in advance: someone at that Indian address will be asked about you, so it helps if they are expecting the visit.
Where your name appears
Overseas electors are placed in a separate Overseas Electors section, the last section of the relevant polling station’s roll. If you search the roll and cannot find yourself in the ordinary listing, that is why. See checking your name on the electoral roll.
The limitation to understand
Registration as an overseas elector does not by itself let you vote from abroad. An overseas elector votes in person at the polling station for their constituency, carrying their passport as identification.
Proposals to extend postal or proxy voting to overseas electors have been discussed for years, but the position you should plan around is the one in force for your election. Confirm it on the Election Commission’s overseas voters page rather than relying on reports of what may change.
The blank form is available as a PDF from the ECI.
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