Vote where you live

What's real and what isn't

This is an independent hackathon prototype. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Election Commission of India, and it is not legal advice.

What works today
  • The routing logic. Which application you need is decided by a deterministic rules engine, not a language model.
  • Every provision shown on a rule card, transcribed from the Election Commission's own published forms and guideline appendices, with its clause citation.
  • The document logic, including what happens when you have none of the seven listed address proofs.
  • The generated application view, built from the answers you gave.

What is mocked

  • The electoral roll lookup. No live Election Commission system is contacted at any point.
  • Submission. Nothing is filed anywhere. There is no backend.
  • All voter ID numbers, which use the deliberately invalid placeholder format XYZ0000000.
  • Any name or address shown in examples. All synthetic.
How we cite sources
  • Every rule shown in this prototype is transcribed from the Representation of the People Act 1950, the Registration of Electors Rules 1960, or the Election Commission's published forms and guideline appendices. Each carries its clause.
  • The Registration of Electors Rules 1960 reproduce Forms 6, 7 and 8 as they stood in 2003. Those forms have since been amended. We cite the rules for procedure, and the current published forms for what the form actually asks.
  • Where a rule has changed since it was made, or where practice varies by state and district, we say so. Confirm anything here with your Electoral Registration Officer before relying on it.
Why we think the problem is real

Widely read guidance describes this process backwards. If the people whose job is explaining it get it wrong, a citizen has very little chance.

The Times of India · 18 April 2024
Claim. Advises that if you have shifted to a different city but wish to retain your voting rights in your original constituency, you should apply for a voter ID transfer.
Reality. A transfer does the opposite. Form 8's own text asks that your name be deleted from the previous address and shifted to the current one. It moves your vote; it does not preserve it where it was.
Form 8, Section 1 — Application for Shifting of Residence
Finology (blog) · Undated
Claim. Repeats the same framing: that if you have moved but want to keep voting where you originally registered, you should fill Form 8 to move your registration to your new area.
Reality. The instruction is internally contradictory — it tells you to move your registration in order to avoid moving it. The error appears to have propagated from earlier coverage.
Form 8, Section 1 — Application for Shifting of Residence
How this was built

Built with OpenAI Codex, driven by a specification file in the repo that fixed the scope, the design tokens and the rule that no language model may ever decide eligibility, routing or a legal warning.

Those are deterministic. A model is used only to rewrite text in plainer language and to translate.

  • Next.js (App Router)
  • React
  • TypeScript
  • Tailwind CSS
  • Google Fonts: Tiro Devanagari Hindi, Mukta
  • Vercel (hosting)
  • OpenAI Codex (used throughout the build)

Limits

  • Covers new enrolment and shift of residence only. It does not handle deletions, objections, overseas voters or roll revision.
  • Procedures and documents can vary by state and district. Confirm with your Electoral Registration Officer before relying on anything here.
  • No live government system is contacted, and no application is actually filed.