Election FAQs: What are the different methods to vote?

The results of Nagaland, Tripura, and Meghalaya Assembly elections are set to be declared on March 2

The results of the 2023 Meghalaya, Nagaland, and Tripura elections will be declared on Thursday, March 2. Tripura voted on February 16 while both Meghalaya and Nagaland elections took place on February 27.

Before the results of the votes are declared, here is a look at the methods to vote:

EVMs

The most common method to cast one’s vote is through Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). These machines come have two parts. While the presiding officer of a voting booth is in charge of the control unit of the device, the polling unit is kept within the voting compartment.

A person eligible for voting is presented with the names and party symbols of all the candidates on the EVM, and he or she has to press a button next to their candidate of choice.

Read | Election FAQs: What is a VVPAT and how does it work?

Besides the EVM, there is also a VVPAT machine within the polling stations. VVPAT stands for Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail. It is a ballotless system that prints a paper slip with the name of the candidate, his/her serial number and the symbol of the party he/she is standing for. VVPAT machines are used to corroborate the results of the EVM.

Postal ballots

When a voter is incapable of being physically present in a polling station where he or she has to cast their votes, they can use the postal ballot method to exercise their voting rights.

According to ECI, “under the absentee category, people above 80 years of age, Covid positive patients, physically disabled and essential service providers (like railways, postal service etc.) can download the 12D form from the ECI website or receive a copy of the same from booth level officer (BLO). After filling it correctly, the 12D form should be submitted with the BLO within five days of notification of polls."

In this system of voting, the voter has to cast his or her vote on a ballot paper and send the same to the polling officer. However, any voter who wants to avail this method of voting needs to pre-register for the same.