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NCERT Solutions for Class 9th Social Science Chapter 7 ECI creates the electoral roll — LET'S EXPLORE

Book page 168 Updated on2026-09-08

Q1.
Do you know what ETPBS is?
Answer

ETPBS stands for the Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System.

The chapter defines it twice. In this box: it "enables service voters to cast their vote on an electronically received postal ballot from their preferred location, which is outside their originally assigned voting constituency." And in Fig. 7.6, the digital ecosystem chart: it was "developed for 'Service Voters', allowing them to receive and cast their postal ballots electronically from anywhere outside their constituency."

How it works, step by step

  1. The Returning Officer of the voter's home constituency transmits the postal ballot electronically to the voter, wherever they are posted.
  2. The voter downloads and prints it, marks the vote on paper, and signs the declaration.
  3. The marked ballot is sent back by post to the Returning Officer, and is counted if it reaches before the deadline fixed for counting.
Why it was needed: the old postal ballot had to travel both ways by post. For a soldier at a remote posting, the ballot could arrive too late to be returned in time, and the vote was effectively lost. Sending the ballot out electronically removes one leg of that journey, so the voter gets days instead of hours to respond. It is a good example of the chapter's larger point that the ECI uses information and communication technologies to keep the process inclusive — the vote is the same, only the delivery has changed.
Q2.
Find out who are classified as service voters and who can vote using ETPBS?
Answer

A service voter is an elector who, because of the job they hold for the country, is stationed away from the constituency where they are registered, and is therefore allowed to vote by post instead of in person.

Who is classified as a service voter

  • Members of the armed forces of the Union.
  • Members of an armed police force of a State who are serving outside that State.
  • Persons employed under the Government of India in a post outside India, such as staff at Indian missions abroad.
  • The wife of a service voter ordinarily residing with them is also entitled to be registered as a service voter.

Such electors are entered in a separate part of the electoral roll of their home constituency, and they vote there by postal ballot — which is why ETPBS matters to them.

Who votes using ETPBS. Service voters registered as such, who are posted outside their home constituency, receive the postal ballot electronically under ETPBS. Note two limits so you do not overstate the answer: the ballot goes out electronically, but the marked ballot comes back by post; and ETPBS is meant for service voters, not for ordinary voters who happen to be travelling.

Check it yourself: the exact categories are defined in the Representation of the People Act, 1950 — the very Act the chapter names as dealing with electoral rolls. Look up the ECI website's page on service voters and copy the categories as they are officially worded, along with the date you accessed it.
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