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How Indians vote from Abu Dhabi?
The Indian Election Commission has declared the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The elections are slated to begin on April 19 and end on June 1. Indian expatriates living in the United Arab Emirates can register to vote.
Non-resident Indians (NRIS) must be physically present in their respective constituency to cast a ballot, even though they can register online or offline.
NRIs were prohibited from exercising their right to vote in elections until 2010. The Representation of People (Amendment) Act, 2010 was amended to allow NRIs to vote.
In a recent statement, the Press Information Bureau stated that they are “calling all NRI voters to cast their vote this year.”
In order to be eligible to vote, an NRI needs to:
- Hold a current Indian passport.
- Be eighteen years old as of January 1st of the year that their constituency’s electoral roll is released in India.
How to register as an overseas voter in Abu Dhabi?
- Check out the voter portal service website or the Election Commission of India.
- Navigate to the state election commission section after selecting your state or union territory.
- Select and download Form 6A.
- Form 6A is also available from the Indian Mission in the nation where you currently reside.
- Scan the completed form and attach a coloured passport-sized photo to it.
- Scan self-attested copies of the passport pages containing your picture, Indian residential address, and other information. Scan the sheet that has the endorsement of a valid visa as well.
- On the ECI website, register and upload the scanned form.
- If you choose to apply by mail, you must send a signed copy of Form 6A together with copies of the required paperwork that have been self-attested to the electoral district officer’s address in India. The ECI website provides the address.
What transpires following Form 6A submission
- The submission will be carefully examined.
- The electoral registration officer will dispatch a voting area booth-level officer for field verification. The latter will pay you a visit to the address listed on your passport—your home address in India—to conduct an inquiry.
- The documents will be sent to the Indian Mission in the nation where you now reside for verification if you don’t have any relatives who can attest to the authenticity of your documents or if the officer is not pleased with the verification.
- If you provide a mobile number on Form 6A, the electoral registration officer will send you an SMS with the final decision. Alternatively, you can receive it by mail at the address in the foreign nation listed on the form.
- As an NRI, you will find your name in a separate “Overseas Electors” section on the ECI website.” This is the last section on the role of that particular constituency part/polling station area that corresponds to your home address as in your passport.
- Non-resident Indians (NRIs) are not provided with an Electors Photo Identity card (EPIC) and must cast their ballots in person at the appropriate polling place by presenting their original passport.
How to register offline?
You must go to the constituency where you reside if you would like to apply for an NRI voter ID offline. The process of registering to vote is as follows:
- Go to the office for voter registration.
- Complete Form 6A.
- Send in the necessary paperwork, which includes a recent colour passport photo, self-attested copies of the pertinent pages, proof of address in India, and a visa endorsement.
- Your passport must be presented for verification.
- Send in your application.
