India has roughly 97 crore registered voters. Every election cycle, some of them arrive at a booth, look for their name, and do not find it. Sometimes the entry was deleted in error. Sometimes the family moved and never updated. Sometimes it is something more deliberate, of the kind covered in our vote-deletion explainer. This guide is for the person who would rather not learn about all of this five minutes before voting closes.
This is a hands-on field guide. Five minutes today to confirm your name, five minutes a year to keep it accurate, fifteen minutes if you need to fix something. Bookmark it. The same steps apply whether you are voting for CJP, Congress, BJP, or NOTA — your name on the roll is upstream of whatever you choose.
Step 1 — Check whether your name is on the roll
Two official channels, both free:
- The NVSP / Voter Portal — voters.eci.gov.in (the renamed National Voters' Service Portal). Search by name and constituency or by EPIC (voter ID card number).
- The Voter Helpline app — official ECI mobile app. Use the "Search your name in voter list" option.
What to confirm:
- Your name appears in the latest revised electoral roll for your current address constituency.
- The EPIC number on your voter ID card matches what the portal shows.
- The polling-booth assignment matches your residence (not your old one).
If all three match, you are done — you will be able to vote in your next election. Set a calendar reminder to recheck once a year, ideally in October–November when most revisions happen.
Step 2 — If you are not on the roll: Form 6
Form 6 is the new-voter / new-constituency form. Use it if:
- You are turning 18 and have never been on the roll.
- You moved to a new constituency and need to register there.
- You were on the roll before but the entry no longer appears.
How to file it:
- Log in to voters.eci.gov.in or open the Voter Helpline app.
- Select "New Voter Registration (Form 6)".
- Upload: a passport-style photo, age proof (aadhaar / passport / 10th certificate), address proof (aadhaar / electricity bill / rent agreement).
- Submit. You get a reference number. The Booth Level Officer (BLO) will usually visit for verification within 2–4 weeks.
If you are submitting Form 6 because your existing entry vanished, attach a note explaining the previous EPIC number. This speeds up the process and creates a paper trail.
Step 3 — If something is wrong with someone else's entry: Form 7
Form 7 is the objection / deletion form. It is the most misunderstood form on the portal. Form 7 is filed when:
- A name on the roll should not be there (a deceased relative, a duplicate entry, someone who has moved out permanently).
- You want to object to a proposed deletion of your own name during a revision period.
The second use case matters. During a revision, ECI publishes a list of proposed deletions. If your name shows up there — or your family member's — you can file Form 7 in objection to the deletion before it is finalised. This is the moment when most preventable disenfranchisement could be stopped.
Other related forms worth knowing:
- Form 8 — corrections to your existing entry (name spelling, address within the same constituency, EPIC photo).
- Form 8A — transposition within the same constituency (a different polling area in the same seat).
"The single most empowering five-minute act in Indian civic life is checking your name on voters.eci.gov.in. Almost nobody does it. Almost everybody should." — Civic literacy primer, CJP
Step 4 — If your vote is missing on polling day
You arrived at the booth, you have your EPIC, but your name is not in the list. Three things to do, in order:
- Ask for the supplementary list. Late additions are sometimes in a separate roll. The Presiding Officer is obliged to check.
- Insist on a written entry in the booth diary. Note your name, EPIC, time and the officer's name. This becomes evidence if you later file a representation.
- Photograph the rejection. The official poll-day decision form (Form 17A entry, or the page that shows your absence) is the document you will need later.
You will not be allowed to vote that day if your name is genuinely off the roll, but the record you create on polling day is the input to the next correction.
Step 5 — How to escalate
If a deletion looks systematic (multiple names from your colony, your family, your housing society), escalation paths in increasing order of intensity:
- File a representation with the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) for your constituency.
- Escalate to the District Election Officer (DEO).
- Escalate to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of your state.
- Approach the Election Commission of India directly with documented cases.
- File a writ petition in the High Court, with the help of a legal volunteer from movements like CJP. See the volunteer roles guide.
The bigger context — why accountability for deletions matters at all — is covered in our EC accountability piece and the demand for UAPA-level CEC accountability in manifesto point two.
What to do this weekend
- Open voters.eci.gov.in. Search your name. Five minutes.
- If you find an issue, file the appropriate form. Fifteen minutes.
- Forward this guide to five people in your family WhatsApp. Two minutes.
- If you want to do this for other people too — your neighbours, your relatives, your hostel — pick the voter-roll-fieldwork track from the CJP volunteer roles guide.
The vote you save might be your own. Or your dadi's. Either way, the work is small, undramatic, and matters more than any rally.
Want to do this as organised civic work? Join CJP and pick the voter-roll track →