A representative image of a person casting vote.
Credit: PTI File Photo
In order to ensure that everyone is able to cast their vote, special categories are made which aid people in exercising their right. Among those special categories are the service voters.
Who is a service voter?
According to the Election Commission of India, a service voter is a voter having a service qualification. Someone who is either a member of the Armed Forces of the Union, Armed Police Force of a State, or is otherwise employed under the Government of India.
Service voters can cast their votes either through postal ballot or through a proxy voter duly appointed to them. A voter who opts to vote through a proxy is called a Classified Service Voter.
How is a service voter different from an ordinary elector?
While an ordinary elector is registered in the electoral roll of the constituency where he/she hails from, a person having service qualification can get enrolled as a ‘service voter’ at their native place even though he/she may be residing at a different place (of posting). This voter has, however, an option to get enrolled as a general elector at the place of posting where they factually, at the point of time, is residing with their family for a sufficient span of time.
Is the spouse or son/daughter of a service voter also enrolled as a service voter?
If the spouse is ordinally residing with the service voter, then he/she shall be eligible to be enrolled as a service voter in the constituency concerned. However it is to be noted that this facility is not available for husbands of female service voters under the existing law.
Haryana is set to vote in their Assembly polls on October 5. The results are to be declared on October 8. The state will vote in a single phase for the upcoming assembly election.
Assembly Elections 2024 | In the first assembly polls since the Lok Sabha elections, Narendra Modi and the BJP face a rejuvenated and vindicated Opposition in the Haryana assembly polls. Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir is voting after almost a decade and it remains to be seen how the abrogation of Article 370 has impacted the political landscape of the Valley. Track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.