Postal ballot
Topic: Elections and the Electoral System · NCERT: Class 8, Ch 5 "Universal Franchise and India's Electoral System"; Class 9, Ch 7 "Elections"
Meaning
A postal ballot is a paper ballot sent to the voter and returned by post or collected by officials. It lets a person vote without going to the polling station. It is available to:
- service voters;
- staff on election duty;
- notified essential-service workers;
- preventive detainees, meaning people held to stop a possible crime, not to punish one;
- absentee voters, such as voters above 85 and persons with benchmark disabilities.
Postal ballots are counted first on counting day.
Example
A government teacher posted as a polling officer in another constituency in the 2024 Lok Sabha election cannot vote at their own booth. They vote by postal ballot instead.
Don't confuse with
- Tendered vote: This is a paper ballot given at the booth when someone has already voted in the voter's name. It is not counted. A postal ballot is counted.
Related concepts
- Absentee voter
- Home voting
- Service voter
- Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System
- Proxy voting
- Prisoners' voting bar
- Systematic Voters' Education and Electoral Participation
- National Voters' Day