Electoral Roll
The official list of registered voters for a constituency, organised by part and booth.
Short answer
What is Electoral Roll?
The electoral roll is the official register of persons entitled to vote in a constituency, maintained by the Election Commission and revised periodically. It is organised into parts, each mapped to a polling station, and lists each elector with a serial number and identifying details.
Definition
The electoral roll is the official register of persons entitled to vote in a constituency, maintained by the Election Commission and revised periodically. It is organised into parts, each mapped to a polling station, and lists each elector with a serial number and identifying details.
Why It Matters
The roll defines the universe a campaign is working with. Contact planning, voter slip distribution and turnout tracking all run off it, and errors in the roll — deletions, duplications, misallocated parts — directly affect who can actually vote.
Example in Indian Elections
Before a polling day operation, campaigns reconcile their identified supporter list against the final published roll, because a supporter whose name has been deleted cannot vote regardless of how well they were persuaded.
Related Terms
- Polling BoothThe individual polling station where a defined group of voters casts their votes.
- Form 20The statutory ECI document publishing booth-wise vote counts after a poll.
- By-ElectionAn election held to fill a single seat vacated mid-term.
- NOTA"None of the Above" — an option on the ballot to reject all candidates.
- Model Code of ConductECI guidelines governing party and candidate conduct once an election is announced.
- Silence PeriodThe 48 hours before polling closes when public campaigning is prohibited.