Registration of OverseasElectors

UnderSection 20-A of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 Indian citizens basedoverseas can be enrolled as voters and can vote in person in India as \'overseaselectors\'. With effect from 10th February, 2011, every citizen ofIndia above the age of 18 years who has not acquired foreign citizenship but whois absenting from his/her place of ordinary residence in India as mentioned inhis/her Indian passport, shall be entitled to have his/her name registered inthe electoral roll for the concerned constituency under which his/her place ofordinary residence in India as mentioned in Indian passport falls.After registration, the overseas elector is entitled tocast his/her vote in elections held in his constituency in India.

Please note that voting can be doneonly in person at designated polling station of the constituency in India. Thereis no provision of postal ballot for overseas electors.

The application form (Form6A) prescribed for registration in the electoral roll can be downloaded fromElection Commission of India website www.eci.nic.in.

Along with Form 6A, photocopy ofrelevant pages of passport of the applicant containing photograph and otherparticulars including address in India and valid visa need to be enclosed. Allthe copies of relevant pages of applicant\'s passport are required to be dulyself attested (no need for attestation by the Indian Mission) by the overseaselector.

After attestation, theapplication for registration may be filed either in person or sent by post tothe Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) of the constituency within which theplace of ordinary residence of the applicant in India, as given in his/her validpassport, falls. Addresses of all EROs are available on the website of theElection Commission of India i.e. www.eci.nic.in.

On receipt of application by post byERO, the verification of self attested documents will be done by Booth LevelOfficers, who will visit home address mentioned in the passport. They will askthe relatives to verify the self attested documents and give a declaration tothis effect. If the relatives are not available or not willing to verify or EROis not satisfied with the verification, the documents will be sent forverification to the concerned Embassy in the foreign country where the applicantresides. Identification of the overseas electors shall be done on the basis oftheir passport at the time of casting of votes at pollingstations.

FAQs on the matter can be seen athttp://eci.nic.in/eci_main/nri/NRIElectorsFAQs%2024092013.pdf

After registration as overseaselector, if residential address inforeign country is changed, or if someone renounces Indian citizenship/acquiresforeign citizenship, intimation of change of current residence in foreigncountry, or of renunciation of Indian citizenship shall be sent to ERO byconcerned elector through the Indian Mission.