MLC Vote And How To Apply For MLC Vote?

There is limited awareness about MLC vote since only 6 states in India have the Legislative Council system

When it comes to voting, most people are aware about municipal elections, Vidhan Sabha elections (Legislative Assembly) and the General Elections (Lok Sabha). But some States have an additional State Legislative Council, also known as Vidhan Parishad. States with Legislative Council include Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. None of the Union Territories (UT) in India have a Legislative Council.

What is MLC vote?

An MLC vote is the vote cast by graduates and teachers to elect a Member of the Legislative Council (MLC). It is important to note that there are various ways in which MLCs can be elected. Total MLCs in a state cannot exceed 1/3rd of the number of members in the State Legislative Assembly. Also, the size of the Legislative Council should not be less than 40 members. It is easy to get confused between Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly, so please take note.

One-third of the MLCs in a state are elected by panchayat samitis, gram panchayats, municipalities and district councils. Next one-third members are elected by MLAs (Members of the Legislative Assembly). The governor of the state appoints one-sixth of the MLCs. Usually, the governor selects distinguished individuals from fields such as social services, arts, the cooperative movement, science, and literature.

For the common people, they can elect 1/12th of the MLCs. The eligibility criterion for MLC vote is that you should be a graduate residing in that state for at least 3 years. You will have to apply for MLC voter registration, which we will discuss later in this article. Another 1/12th of the MLCs are chosen by teachers. The eligibility is at least three years of teaching experience in that state. Also, the teaching experience should be at the secondary school level or above such as colleges and universities.

How to apply for MLC vote?

The process for applying for MLC vote is mostly the same for all states. In the case of graduates, they need to use the Form 18 of the Election Commission Of India. This form is for the ‘Claim for inclusion of name in the electoral roll for a Graduates’ Constituency’. For teachers, the Form 19 should be used. This is for ‘Claim for inclusion of name in the electoral roll for a Teachers’ Constituency’.

The Form-18 and Form-19 of MLC voter registration is quite simple. You just have to provide the basic details such as name, qualification, address, age, date of birth, details of your assembly constituency, Aadhaar details, mobile number and your graduation details. You will have to provide a passport size photograph and other documents, especially Aadhaar card xerox and graduation degree xerox. Teachers will need to provide details about their teaching experience.

It is important to note that some states have both offline and online options for MLC voter registration. You can choose any of the methods. You can submit the Form-18 / Form-19 online or download and fill it and submit it at your nearest election commission office. There are likely to be some cut-off dates, depending on when the MLC election will be held in the respective state.

The exact dates for MLC voter application and other details can be accessed by contacting your nearest election commission office. You can enter your EPIC number on this link (https://electoralsearch.eci.gov.in/) to get the contact information of the election commission officials of your constituency. Similarly, you can visit respective state government websites to know more about MLC elections and the polling dates.