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The Indian voter ID card is an identity document issued by the Election Commission of India which primarily serves as an identity proof for Indian citizens while casting votes in the country's municipal, state, and national elections. It also serves as general identity, address, and age proof for other purposes such as buying a mobile phone SIM card or applying for a passport. It is also known as Electoral Photo ID Card (EPIC). It was first introduced in 1993 during the tenure of the former Chief Election Commissioner TN Seshan.
Contents
Physical appearance
This card is a black & white or color laminated plain paper. Its size is almost that of the bank card. It is a plastic card not a smart card. It contains the face photo, date of birth, and address of the card holder. It also contains the serial number, a hologram sticker and stamped signature of the issuing authority.
This card does not contain the part number and serial number of the given constituency. Although part number and serial number are most important to reach the specific booth for vote cast, yet it keeps changing every year. Now people can find online their part number and serial number as the data has been put online by the Election Commission.
Obtaining voter card
The voter card is issued to all Indian citizens who have attained the age of 18 years and qualify to be a voter. One has to apply on prescribed Form-6 of Election Commission attached with proof of ID, Indian nationality, age and residence.
Bankrupt and mentally sick people over 18 years do not qualify to vote, therefore it is not issued to them.
Applicants have to submit paper Form-6 to their municipal corporation / cantonment board of the area.
Applicants can also apply online on the website of the chief electoral officer given for that State.
Fake and defunct voter cards
There are millions of fake, defunct voter cards available in India. It has very low reliability. One cannot use it for vote cast. However, it is misused for other ID purposes fraudulently such as obtaining mobile SIM.
Validity
If a person moves his/ her residence to another assembly constituency then he does not remain a valid voter of previous constituency. The person has to register afresh as voter in the new assembly constituency. Hence the new card is issued and old card becomes invalid.