Voting rights for NRIs
registration of Overseas electors
Under Section 20A of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, an Indian citizen who has not acquired citizenship of any foreign country and is living abroad on account of employment, education, etc. is entitled to be enrolled in the electoral roll of the constituency of his/her native place as per the address given in the Passport. For enrolment under this provision, an application has to be made in Form 6A. NRIs can register themselves online in National Voters Services Portal(NVSP)[ www.nvsp.in].Form 6a is available at the High Commission of India, Port of Spain.
• The Representation of People (Amendment) Act 2010 which seeks to amend the Representation of People Act, 1950 was enacted on 22nd September, 2010.
• Thereafter the Registration of Elector Rules, 1960 were amended by the Registration of Electors (Amendment) Rules, 2011 on 3rd February, 9th February and 23rd February, 2011 to give voting rights to overseas Indian electors.
• All applicants may send their self-attested documents to the concerned Electoral Registration Officers.
• The identification of overseas electors at the time of casting their votes at the polling stations shall be done on the basis of their original passports.
• The overseas electors have to fill a Form 6A for registering themselves for voting in India. Form 6A is available on the website of the Election Commission of India (eci.nic.in)
• Form 6A may be sent by post to the concerned Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) of the concerned constituency in which they are to be registered as voters, or deposited with EROs in person.
• The ERO will be the one which corresponds to the Indian address as mentioned in the passport of the overseas electors.
• The details and particulars of EROs are available on the website of the Election Commission of India (eci.nic.in).
• The documents required are the relevant pages of the passport containing name, date of birth, place of birth, father’s name, place of residence in India, passport details and details of the visa.
• After enrollment, overseas electors will be able to cast their vote in elections in their constituency, if they are physically present in the polling station along with their original passport on the day of the poll.
