TCN News
The election commission of India, in their endeavours to motivate citizens of India to exercise adult franchise have now given the option for non resident Indians residing anywhere in the world to apply for EPIC (Electors Photo Identity Card) online.
The process is simple. All that a NRI has to do is go the website: https://eci.gov.in/home/
And under the ‘View more current issues’ there is an option: Enroll as a NRI voter’ after clicking which another you will be directed to ‘Form 6A’ which has to be filled by the applicant. There are some mandatory fields without which you will not be able to proceed such as the address of the country you are residing; visa No, date of validity of passport and so on.
There are only 2 documents that need to be uploaded which are: a photograph of the applicant and valid pages of the passport.
The valid pages are usually the front page and the pages where the visa endorsement is done.
Another option is applying offline by downloading Form 6 A, filling it up and posting to the Electoral registration officer of their home constituency along with copies of self attested supporting documents.
Once applied the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) will scrutinize the application after which a message will be sent on the registered mobile phone of the applicant about the status of the application. If the application is approved then the EPIC No will also be sent and the applicant can check the CEO site to find his/her name in the electoral roll.
This option for registering as a voter for NRI has been made available after the Representation of the People’s Act of 1950 was amended.
The eligibility criterion is:
- The person cannot have any citizenship of a country besides India
- The person must be 18 years or older
- The person must have a valid Indian passport with details attested by an officer of the Indian Embassy/ Mission in their country of residence
- The person must be of sound mind and meet all other basic requirements to be deemed an elector in India
If a NRI wants to cast his/her vote they have to be physically present in India in the district where your vote is registered. The rumours that a NRI can cast a proxy votethrough e-ballot have been laid to rest in the site where the Election Commission site has posted a warning about this fake news. So the option of distance voting is not yet provided by the Election commission.
The bill though tabled in the parliament has not been passed.
There is no last date announced yet for registering for EPIC.