New Delhi:
As India votes for the ‘festival of democracy’ in the Phase 1 of the crucial Lok Sabha Elections today, there are many people who don’t know exactly how one can cast her vote. In case you are not aware about the procedure, News Nation brings to you an easy to remember guide for becoming an informed voter. Citizens in 91 constituencies are using their franchise in the first phase of the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections. 20 states and Union Territories are polling in the first phase.
5 step every citizen must know to cast her/his vote in India:
1: First of all, you should have a valid voter card. The card is issued by the Election Commission of India and is updated in the months of September and October every year.
2: A day before the election day, every elector is issued a voter slip. This slip has details such as where is your polling booth, serial number etc. In case you don’t get the voter slip, you can check the details of polling booth from the Election Commission’s official site.
3: Once at the polling booth, the security personnel will frisk you. No phones are allowed inside. At the booth, polling officer number 1 will check your name according to the electoral roll.
4: After verifying this, polling officer number two will ask you to provide a valid identity proof. Remember, the voter slip alone is NOT an ID proof. Officer number 3 will mark your finger with the indelible ink.
5: Polling Officer number 4 will see that you are ready to vote. Now you procced to the secret ballot box cabin. Cast your vote by pressing the button designed in the row along with the name and party symbol. A long beep would mean that your vote was successful.
Voting process will be completed in Andhra Pradesh (25 seats), Telangana (17 seats), Uttarakhand (5 seats), Arunachal Pradesh (2 seats), Meghalaya (2 seats), Nagaland (1 seat), Sikkim (1 seat), Mizoram (1 seat), Andaman and Nicobar Islands (1 seat) and Lakshadweep (1 seat). Other states which are going for polls are Uttar Pradesh (8/80 seats), Maharashtra (7/48 seats), Assam (5/14 seats), Bihar (4/40 seats), Odisha (4/21 seats), West Bengal (2/42 seats), Jammu and Kashmir (2/6 seats), Tripura (1/2 seats) and Manipur (1/2 seats) and Chhattisgarh (1/11 seats). Some of the key constituencies in the first phase of elections are Ghaziabad, Baghpat and Gautam Buddha Nagar in Uttar Pradesh, Nagpur and Chandrapur in Maharashtra, Tura in Meghalaya, Kaliabor and Dibrugarh in Assam, Arunachal West in Arunachal Pradesh, Gaya and Jamui in Bihar, Kalahandi and Koraput in Odisha, Hyderabad, Nizamabad and Nalgonda in Telangana, Baramulla in Jammu and Kashmir, Bastar in Chhattisgarh, Cooch Behar in West Bengal, Nainital-Udhamsingh Nagar and Garhwal in Uttarakhand and Visakhapatnam, Kurnool and Vizianagaram in Andhra Pradesh. Several prominent candidates are in the fray in the first phase of elections – Nitin Gadkari, Mahesh Sharma, VK Singh, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Daggubati Purandeswari, Chirag Paswan, Jitan Ram Manjhi, Harish Rawat, Nana Patole, Asaduddin Owaisi, Renuka Choudhary, Kalvakuntla Kavitha, Hansraj Gangaram Ahir, Gaurav Gogoi, Muhammad Akbar Lone, Kiren Rijiju and Ashok Gajapathi Raju. Let's see the state-wise key constituencies and prominent candidates in detail.
