The voting process in 91 Lok Sabha seats spread across 18 states and two union territories has started for the Phase 1 Lok Sabha election. The voting commenced at 7 am in the morning today and will continue till 6 pm in the evening. The timings to give vote may vary in the northeastern states. For instance, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Sikkim and Tripura West can exercise their franchise between 7am-5pm, while Manipur, Nagaland and Meghalaya will go to polls between 7am-4pm.
The big faces that are going to contest today in the first phase of Lok Sabha election are five union ministers-Kiren Rijiju (Arunachal West), Satyapal Singh (Baghpat), General VK Singh (Ghaziabad), and Mahesh Sharma (Gautam Buddha Nagar),Nitin Gadkari(Nagpur). Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh and his son Jayant Chaudhary are also in fray.
Polling in all the Lok Sabha constituencies of Andhra Pradesh (25), Telangana (17), Uttarakhand (5), Meghalaya (2) , Assam (5), Jammu a nd Kashmir (2) Maharashtra (7) and Arunachal Pradesh (2) besides lone seats in Mizoram, Tripura, Manipur, Nagaland, Sikkim, Andaman and Nicobar, and Lakshadweep are underway.
Also read: Lok Sabha Election 2019: Phase 1 voting on April 11; FAQs, polling in 91 seats
The 17th Lok Sabha elections will be held in seven phases starting April 11, followed by counting of votes on May 23. The elections to the world's largest democracy will be held for 543 seats on nearly 10 lakh polling booths across the country.
In order to cast your vote, all you need to have is voter identity card issued by the Election Commission of India with names on the electoral rolls. Therefore, it is important to check whether your name is present on the voter list or not ahead of the elections.
How you can vote in Lok Sabha election 2019
You can vote only if your name appears in the Voter List (also known as Electoral Roll). Voters can also find information on Polling Booths, Contesting candidates, Election Dates & Timings, Identity cards and EVM.
Voting process at polling booth
NOTE: Mobile phones, cameras or any other gadget is not allowed inside a polling booth.
Where to vote: find your polling booth
Voters can go to electoralsearch.in or use Voter Helpline App to find their polling booth
Voters can call the Voter Helpline, the number is 1950 (please add your STD code before dialling)
For Polling station location SMS
How to use EVM
EVM stands for Electronic Voting Machine and VVPAT stands for Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT). Click to see video for how to vote using EVM VVPAT
Don't have voter ID card? Don't worry, here are other identy proof which you can use to give vote:
Here's how to check your name on the voter's list
Step 1: Log on to the National Voter Services Portal's Electoral Search page (NVSP).
Step 2: You can check your name on the voter's list by entering your details or by putting in your Electoral Photo ID Card (EPIC) number.
In case you don't have Voter Identity Card
Step 1: Log on to the NSVP Electoral Search page.
Step 2: Click on search by details and put up your details, such as name, gender, age, Assembly Constituency, etc as mentioned on the page.
Step 3: Based on your details, a result will pop up which will mean that your name is in the voter's list. In case, there is no pop-up, it means your name is probably missing on the voter's list.
The Election Commission of India has launched Voter Helpline Mobile app to provide convenience of finding names in the electoral roll, submitting online forms, checking the status of the application, filing complaints and receiving the reply on their mobile app. All forms, results, candidate affidavit, press notes, voter awareness and important instructions are available through the mobile app.
Users can also call 1950 and obtain information about voter details in the electoral roll, check for the status of enrollment application and also lodge grievance.
Also Read: No Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir now, only Parliamentary polls: CEC Sunil Arora
Edited by Chitranjan Kumar