How to Vote in a Padvidhar (Graduates') MLC Election: Preference Voting, Valid ID and Mistakes That Cancel Your Vote

Most of us have only ever voted by pressing a button on an EVM. A padvidhar (graduates') or shikshak (teachers') election to the Legislative Council works very differently: you get a paper ballot, a special pen, and you rank candidates by writing numbers. It is simple once you understand it — but in every graduates' poll a noticeable number of ballots are rejected as invalid, usually because of avoidable mistakes. In the Kolhapur Gokul dairy election held the same week, for instance, the winning side alleged that 98 votes had been declared invalid, enough to change several results. Spoiled ballots can matter in close contests.

This guide walks you through the whole process for the 23 October 2026 polls in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra and Karnataka (and any future graduates' or teachers' election).

Before you leave home: a 3-point checklist

1. Confirm your name is on the graduates' (or teachers') roll. This is a separate list from the Assembly voter list. Search your name and note your polling station and serial number. See our guide on how to download the padvidhar matdar list.
2. Find your polling station. Graduates' polling stations are far fewer than Assembly booths — often one per block or town — so yours may not be your usual booth. In Uttar Pradesh there are 2,697 polling stations for 14.81 lakh electors; in the Pune Division Graduates' seat, 781 stations serve 3.88 lakh voters.
3. Carry an original photo ID. See the list of accepted documents below.

Which ID can you show at the polling station?

If you have an EPIC (voter ID card), carry it. Since many graduates do not, the Election Commission allows alternative photo identity documents for these polls. Reports for the 2026 elections list documents such as:

• Aadhaar card
• Driving licence
• PAN card
• Indian passport
• Service identity cards issued by Central/State Governments, PSUs or public limited companies
• Identity cards issued to teachers or staff by recognised educational institutions
• Original university degree or diploma certificate (as allowed in the Commission's order for graduates' and teachers' polls)

Inside the booth: what happens step by step

1. Identity check. The polling officer finds your name on the marked copy of the graduates' roll, checks your ID and marks your left forefinger with indelible ink.
2. You receive the ballot paper and a pen. The ballot lists the names of all contesting candidates. You are handed the special pen meant for this election (the Election Commission prescribes a violet sketch pen for Council polls).
3. Go behind the voting compartment. Mark your preferences in private (see the rules below).
4. Fold the ballot as instructed so your marks are hidden, and drop it into the ballot box in front of the presiding officer.
5. Return the pen and leave the polling station. Do not take photos of your ballot — that is an offence.

How to mark a preference ballot correctly

The election uses proportional representation by single transferable vote (STV). Here is what that means for you as a voter:

• Write the figure "1" in the preference column against the candidate you want most. Marking "1" is compulsory; a ballot without a valid first preference is rejected.
• You may then write "2" against your second choice, "3" against your third, and so on. You can mark as many or as few further preferences as you like — up to the total number of candidates.
• Write only one number against each candidate, and never repeat a number (for example, two candidates both marked "2").
• Write numbers as figures — 1, 2, 3 — in international form, Roman numerals or the numerals of a recognised Indian language such as Hindi or Marathi. Do not write them in words ("one", "pehla", "एक").

Example

9 mistakes that make your padvidhar vote invalid

Why your 2nd and 3rd preferences can decide the result

To win a single seat, a candidate needs a quota — effectively more than half of the valid votes. Counting begins with first preferences only. If nobody reaches the quota, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and their ballots are transferred to the next preference marked on each one. This repeats until someone crosses the quota.

So if your first choice is unlikely to win, your second preference keeps your ballot alive in later rounds. If you only mark "1" and that candidate is eliminated, your ballot simply drops out of the count — it is not invalid, but it stops influencing the result. Marking further preferences never hurts your first choice: a lower preference is only looked at once your higher choices have been elected or eliminated.

A simple illustration

Suppose 1,00,000 valid votes are cast in a four-way contest. The quota is 50,001. First preferences: A 42,000, B 33,000, C 17,000, D 8,000. Nobody has crossed 50,001, so D is eliminated and D's 8,000 ballots move to their second preferences — say 5,000 to B and 3,000 to A. Now A 45,000, B 38,000, C 17,000. Still no winner, so C is eliminated; if 13,000 of C's ballots list B as the next preference and 2,000 list A, the final tally is B 51,000 and A 47,000. B wins despite trailing on first preferences. This is exactly why counting in graduates' seats is closely watched round by round.

Polling-day rules worth knowing

• Paid holiday / leave: State governments often declare holidays or special casual leave for registered electors in the constituency on polling day. Check your district's order.
• Dry day: Liquor shops are usually closed in the poll-bound areas around polling day (for example, Pune, Nagpur and Amravati districts had dry-day orders for the 23 October polls, and schools and liquor shops were reported closed in parts of Uttar Pradesh).
• Duplicate entries: If your name appears more than once on the roll, you can vote only once. In Maharashtra's Nagpur Graduates' seat, voters with duplicate entries were asked to sign a declaration that they would vote at only one place.
• Proxy voting is not allowed for graduates' constituencies, and there is generally no home voting.

After voting: when are results declared?

Ballot boxes are sealed and taken to a central counting centre for each constituency. For the 2026 polls, counting for all 28 seats is on 27 October. Because of preference transfers, final results for big graduates' seats may come late on counting day or even the next morning. We will track the outcomes — and you can read the background in What Is Padvidhar Election? and UP MLC Election 2026: the 11 seats.