Vote For India: Here's the how, where and when to vote, for each state and every constituency, as the countdown for Lok Sabha Elections 2019 begins

India is all set to celebrate the biggest festival of democracy in the world, following the Election Commission's big Sunday announcement wherein the schedule for the elections to the 17th Lok Sabha was revealed.

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora informed that the general elections will be held in seven phases, and detailed precisely why the elections are the largest exercise of democratic franchise anywhere in the world. Here are the dates, numbers, facts and figures that matter:

• The elections will start on April 11 and continue till May 19
• The all-important vote counting will be held on May 23
• An astonishing 900 million voters will be eligible to vote for 543 Lok Sabha constituencies across the country, an electorate that supercedes that of 2014 by a massive 84.5 million
• About 15 million members of the electorate are aged 18 and 19 
• The Model Code of Conduct came into effect from the very same day i.e. March 10, 2019

Consequent to the election announcement, Republic TV has launched the 'Vote For India' campaign, which aims at facilitating and encouraging the maximum voter turnout for the all-important 2019 polls. With less than a month to go now before the first phase, here's all you need to know about the 'how, where and when' of voting:

How to easily register and check your voter ID online before 2019 General Election:

• Those who want to register to vote, change their address or check if their names are on the electoral rolls can visit the National Voter Service Portal. 
• New voters must fill Form 6 in order to register themselves as voters. The form is available on the NVSP portal. For registration you will need:

1. A passport sized photo
2. proof of age and residence

• In case the age of person or spelling of the name is incorrect, individuals must fill Form 8 to update or correct the details on the electoral roll
• If you have relocated to a different location within the constituency, you can fill Form 8A.
• If you wish to delete your name from the voters’ list from any constituency and relocate to a new constituency, Form 6 must be filled along with Form 7:

1. Form 6 is to register to vote in a new constituency
2. Form 7, if your name is deleted from the voters’ list in the old constituency  

• You can also collect two copies of the forms mentioned above from the Electoral Registration Office, Assistant Electoral Office and Booth Level Offices located in your constituency. You will have to fill the form and submit hard copies of age and address proof to the said office itself. 

Read: Lok Sabha Elections 2019: Here Are The Social Media Usage Norms For Candidates And Platforms Announced By The Election Commission

How to check your voter ID status?

Once you hit submit, a post of it will appear on the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) notice board, inviting any objections for a week. After this, your name will be included in the electoral roll and you'll receive an SMS notification on your provided number.

To check the status of your application after filing, simply go to the tracking status page and plug in your reference ID. If it shows it as processed, you can instead visit the electoral search portal and plug in your details to search. If your name appears, you're eligible to vote.

READ | All You Need To Know About The Model Code Of Conduct That Will Come Into Force After EC Announces The Lok Sabha Election Dates

Seven Phase election: 

States and union territories will go to polls in different phases, with some states such as Andhra Pradesh requiring just a single phase of polling and others, such as Uttar Pradesh having polling in each of the seven phases.

1. States which will have polling in one phase: Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Sikkim, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Andaman, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu, Lakshadweep, Delhi, Puducherry, Chandigarh. 
2. States which will have polling in two phases: Karnataka, Manipur, Rajasthan, Tripura 
3. States which will have polling in three phases: Assam, Chattisgarh 
4. States which will have polling in four phases: Jharkhand, Madya Pradesh, Odisha, Maharashtra 
5. States which will have polling in five phases: Jammu and Kashmir
6. States which will have polling in seven phases: Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal

The most important question: When does your constituency vote?

the relevant state to know when each of its constituencies will go to polls:

• Andaman and Nicobar
• Andhra Pradesh
• Arunachal Pradesh
• Assam
• Bihar
• Chandigarh
• Chhattisgarh
• Dadra and Nagar Haveli
• Daman and Diu
• Delhi-NCR
• Goa
• Gujarat
• Haryana
• Himachal Pradesh
• J&K
• Jharkhand
• Karnataka
• Kerala
• Lakshadweep
• Madhya Pradesh
• Maharashtra
• Manipur
• Meghalaya
• Mizoram
• Nagaland
• Odisha
• Puducherry
• Punjab
• Rajasthan
• Sikkim
• Tamil Nadu
• Telangana
• Tripura
• Uttar Pradesh
• Uttarakhand
• West Bengal