Every person whose name is on the voters’ list can go to a nearby ‘polling booth’, situated usually in a local school or a government office. Once the voter goes inside the booth, the election officials identify her, put a mark on her finger( by using indelible ink) and allow her to cast vote. An agent of each candidate is allowed to sit inside the polling booth and ensure that the voting takes place in a fair way.
Earlier the voters used to indicate who they wanted to vote for by putting a stamp on the ballot paper. A ballot paper is a sheet of paper on which the names of the contesting candidates along with party name and symbols are listed.
Nowadays electronic voting machines (EVM) are used to record votes. The machine shows the names of the candidates and the party symbols.
Once the polling is over, all the (EVM) are sealed and taken to a secure place. A few days later, on a fixed date, all the (EVM) from a constituency are opened and the votes secured by each candidate are counted.
