5.1. Eligibility

The Constitution provides that every person who is not less than eighteen years of age on the qualifying date, and who is ordinarily resident in a constituency is entitled to be registered as a voter in the electoral roll of that constituency. The original Article 326, providing for adult suffrage fixed the age of eligibility to vote for elections to the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas, at 21 years, but by the 61st Amendment to this clause passed in 1989, it has been reduced to 18 years.

In order to be allotted a polling booth at the time of elections, eligible citizens are required to register themselves as voters and get a voter ID card. They can do the same by filling up and submitting Form-6 to the Electoral Registration Officer of their constituency.

One Registration: No person is entitled to be registered in the electoral roll of more than one Constituency; and no one can be registered in any electoral roll more than once.

In 1993, the Election Commission of India ordered the making of photo identity cards for all voters of the country in an attempt to improve the accuracy of the electoral rolls and prevent electoral fraud. The voter ID card or EPIC (Electors Photo Identity Card) is an identification card issued by the Election Commission to all eligible voters to enable voter identification on Election Day.