Father's Name Correction in Voter ID in West Bengal: One Field, Three Relations
The electoral roll does not have a father's name box. It has a single relative field that can hold a father, a mother or a husband, and it sits separately from your own name. That one detail explains most failed applications: people correct their own name and wonder why the father's name is unchanged, or type a husband's name into a field still set to father. It is free to fix, and it needs no gazette.
Get Call and Name Change Format
How to Correct a Father's Name on a Voter ID (Quick Answer)
File Form 8 on the Voters' Services Portal, choose correction of entries, and tick the relative's name field rather than your own name. Enter the correct name and upload a document carrying it, typically that person's Aadhaar, voter ID, PAN or passport, or your own birth certificate or school record naming him. It is free. If you are married and the roll still shows your father, you are not fixing a spelling: the field offers father, mother or husband, so switch the relation and support it with your marriage certificate. There is no requirement to make that switch at all. A gazette is involved only where the relative has genuinely changed his own name, and then it is his gazette. Expect two to four weeks, a new EPIC, and the old card returned to the ERO.
| Your situation | What it actually is | What proves it |
|---|---|---|
| Father's name misspelt on the roll | Correction of the relative field | A document carrying his correct name |
| Initial shown where the full name should be | Correction of the relative field | The same, showing the full form |
| Married, roll still shows your father | Change of which relation is recorded | Marriage certificate, plus his name |
| Husband's name shown but you want your father back | Change of relation, the other way | A document naming your father |
| Mother's name to be recorded instead | The same field allows it | A document carrying her name |
| The relative genuinely changed his own name | His name change, then your correction | His gazette, then his updated records |
| Your own name is also wrong | A separate field in the same form | Tick both and file once |
Voter ID Relative Name Field: Father, Mother or Husband
Look at the form itself and the structure is clear. Your entry has your name in one place, and then a single field for father's, mother's or husband's name, where the relation is chosen rather than assumed. The correction section lists what can be fixed: your name, age, the father's, mother's or husband's name, sex, address and the EPIC number.
Two consequences follow. Correcting your name does nothing to the relative field, which is why people file, wait a month and find the father's name still wrong. And changing from a father to a husband is not a spelling fix at all; it changes which relation the roll records.
Tick both if both are wrong
Form 8 allows more than one entry to be corrected in a single application, and there is no extra fee, because there is no fee. Fix everything at once rather than filing twice and waiting twice.
Father's Name Spelling Correction or Changing the Relation on Voter ID
A spelling correction
The roll names the right person but spells him wrongly, or shows an initial where his documents show a full name. Upload something carrying his correct name and it is done. No gazette, no affidavit, no newspaper, no fee.
A change of relation
The roll names your father and you want your husband recorded, or the reverse. The field supports it, so select the relation and enter that person's name, supported by the marriage certificate where the change follows a marriage. Filing this as a plain name correction is why applications come back doing nothing.
After Marriage: Father or Husband's Name on Your Voter ID?
Nothing obliges a married woman to replace her father's name with her husband's on the electoral roll. Plenty of people keep the father's name for life, and the roll is perfectly valid that way. This is worth saying plainly, because the assumption that it must change sends people into paperwork they never needed.
The sensible reason to change it is consistency. If your passport, bank records or service file now show your husband's name and the roll disagrees, verification somewhere will eventually ask why. If nothing else in your life uses it, leave it alone.
Doing both at once
If your own surname is changing after marriage as well, tick your name and the relative field in the same Form 8. Voter ID after marriage covers the surname side, including shifting to a new address in the same form.
Documents Required to Correct Father's Name in Voter ID
- His Aadhaar, voter ID, PAN card or passport
- Your birth certificate, where it names him
- Your school records or leaving certificate, which usually carry a father's name
- Marriage certificate, for switching to a husband's name
- Death certificate, where a parent has died and the office asks
Older documents are often the strongest
A school admission record or an old certificate predates whatever error crept in later, and settles the point when newer records disagree with each other. Upload a full, flat, clearly readable page; cropped scans get rejected and restart the clock.
State Gazette Process Where the Relative Changed His Own Name
Read this section only where your father or husband has actually changed his name, rather than the roll having spelt it wrongly. The change belongs to him, so the gazette is filed in his name and every document below is his. For a West Bengal adult with no passport involved, the Kolkata Gazette Part II is the right route and publishes in about a week.
He fixes his exact new name
Spelling, spacing and surname order, decided once and used identically on his affidavit, both newspapers, the gazette application and afterwards on his own records.
His affidavit
For the state route, before a First Class Judicial Magistrate, because the Part II portal asks for the affidavit number and the Magistrate's name. On non-judicial stamp paper in his name, stating the old name, the new full name, parentage, address and reason, with the one-and-the-same-person declaration. He signs in his old name.
Notices in two daily newspapers
One Bengali and one English daily, published in his name. Classified text under change of name; keep the complete pages with masthead and date.
Apply on the Kolkata Gazette Part II portal
Change of Name, or Change of Surname where only the surname moves, with ID under 2 MB and photograph under 100 KB.
Pay Rs 1,100 on GRIPS
The state fee, online, against his own reference. Nobody should be collecting it in cash.
Download within about a week, then his records
The notification is issued within 7 days of a complete file. He updates his Aadhaar and PAN, and those updated documents become what you upload with your Form 8.
Which gazette a case needs · The state portal, screen by screen.
Central Gazette Process Where the Relative Changed His Own Name
He uses the Gazette of India instead of the state route in three situations: a passport of his is also being changed, the person is a minor, or he lives outside West Bengal. The adult fee is the same as the state route, but it takes several times longer, so it is not the one to pick by accident.
He fixes his exact new name
Spelling, spacing and surname order, settled once. His affidavit, both newspapers, the proforma, his Aadhaar and PAN, and finally your Form 8 all copy it.
His notarised affidavit
On non-judicial stamp paper in his name, giving the old name, the new full name, his parentage, address and the reason, with the declaration that both names refer to one and the same person. A notary is enough for the central route, unlike the state route which wants a First Class Judicial Magistrate. He signs in the old name, and swears it close to filing since an affidavit older than about a year is questioned.
Notices in two daily newspapers
One Bengali and one English daily, in his name. Classified text under change of name is enough. Keep the complete pages with masthead and date rather than clippings.
Typed proforma with two witnesses
The Department of Publication's own proforma, typed rather than handwritten, carrying his old and new name, signed by two witnesses who sign in his old name.
Pay on BharatKosh
Rs 1,100 for an adult, Rs 1,700 for a minor, higher for an applicant living abroad, plus a charge per alias where the file carries one. Paid online against his own reference, with the receipt going into the file.
He posts the file to Delhi in his own name
Affidavit, both complete newspaper pages, the typed proforma, his identity and address proof, photographs, the BharatKosh receipt, and a soft copy of the notification text with a certificate that it matches. To the Department of Publication, Civil Lines, Delhi 110054. The application is expected from him; agents may not file in their own name.
Publication, then his records, then your Form 8
Usually 30 to 45 days, against about a week for the state route. Downloaded free from egazette.gov.in, and worth checking the same day because the corrigendum window is limited. He updates his Aadhaar and PAN, and those become the documents you upload.
State or central, in one line
No passport of his, adult, living in West Bengal: state, about a week. Passport, minor, or outside the state: central, 30 to 45 days. For a voter roll entry alone, the state route is almost always right.
Read further
How to File Form 8 to Correct Father's Name in Voter ID
Log in
voters.eci.gov.in with your mobile number, email or EPIC number, or the Voter Helpline app. A desktop browser handles this form better than a phone.
Open Form 8, correction of entries
Not shifting of residence, not replacement of EPIC. Select self and confirm the record shown is yours.
Enter Aadhaar, mobile and email
The Aadhaar number is used for authentication alongside your EPIC number.
Tick the relative's name field
Choose the relation, father, mother or husband, then type the name exactly as your proof prints it. Tick your own name too if that is wrong as well.
Upload the document and submit
Full page, clear, uncropped. Complete the declaration and save the reference number; screenshot it.
BLO verification, then the new EPIC
Commonly two to four weeks. Keep your phone reachable. On approval a new EPIC is issued and the old card is to be returned to the ERO.
Mistakes That Get a Voter ID Father Name Correction Rejected
Correcting your own name and expecting the father's to change
They are separate fields. Tick the relative field specifically.
Typing a husband's name into a field still set to father
Change the relation, not just the text.
Buying a gazette for a misspelling
Nobody asks for one. Existing documents settle it.
Filing your gazette when he changed his name
It has to be his notification, in his name.
Uploading a cropped or dark photograph of a document
Full page, flat, daylight. Rejected uploads restart everything.
Paying a government fee
There is none. A service charge is fine if quoted as one.
Father's Name in a Voter ID: Frequently Asked Questions
How do I correct my father's name on my voter ID?
File Form 8 on the Voters' Services Portal, choose correction of entries, and select the relative's name field rather than your own name field. Enter the correct name, upload a document that carries it, and submit. It is free, and a Booth Level Officer verifies before the Electoral Registration Officer approves.
Is the father's name a separate field from my name?
Yes, and this is where people go wrong. The electoral roll has your name in one field and a single relative field covering father, mother or husband in another. Correcting your own name does nothing to the relative field, and vice versa. Tick the right one, or tick both if both are wrong.
I am married and the roll still shows my father. How do I change it to my husband?
That is not a spelling correction, it is a change of which relation the roll records. The relative field offers father, mother or husband, so you select husband and enter his name, supported by your marriage certificate. Doing this as a name correction alone is why applications come back unchanged.
Do I have to change it to my husband's name after marriage?
No. Nothing requires a married woman to replace her father's name with her husband's on the electoral roll. Many keep the father's name, and that is perfectly valid. Change it only if you want your records to match a passport, bank or service record that uses the husband's name.
What documents prove the correct relative name?
Documents carrying that person's name: his Aadhaar, voter ID, PAN, passport, or your own birth certificate or school records where they name him. For switching to a husband's name, the marriage certificate is the supporting document.
Is a gazette needed?
Almost never. A misspelling is corrected against existing documents. A gazette becomes relevant only where the relative has genuinely changed his own name, and then it is his gazette in his name, not yours.
My father has died. Can the entry still be corrected?
Yes. The entry is a record, not a living permission. Provide documents carrying his correct name and the death certificate where the office asks for it.
Does it cost anything?
No. Correcting entries in the electoral roll is free, whether you correct your own name, a relative's name, or both.
Can I correct my name and my father's name in the same form?
Yes, and you should. Form 8 lets you tick more than one entry, so fix everything wrong in one application rather than filing twice and waiting twice.
What else can Form 8 correct?
Under the rules it covers your name, age, the father's, mother's or husband's name, sex, address and the EPIC number. It also handles shifting of residence, replacement of an EPIC and marking as a person with disability, so choose the right option at the start.
How long does it take?
Commonly two to four weeks including Booth Level Officer verification, with up to about 30 days allowed. On approval a new EPIC is issued, and the old card is to be returned to the Electoral Registration Officer.
The correction was approved but the roll still shows the old entry. What now?
Download the e-EPIC and search the electoral roll directly. If the roll itself is unchanged after approval, contact your Booth Level Officer through the Know Your BLO option using your EPIC number, since the record and the card are updated separately.
Official Sources for Voter ID Father Name Correction
Voters' Services Portal
voters.eci.gov.in: Form 8, tracking, e-EPIC download and Know Your BLO.
Election Commission of India
eci.gov.in: Form 8 itself, which lists the correctable entries including the father's, mother's or husband's name.
Kolkata Gazette Part II guideline
Notification of 17 May 2023: the state route, if the relative is changing his own name.
Voter ID and Electoral Roll in West Bengal: The Complete Series
Form 8 itself, a relative’s name, Aadhaar linking, an entry that is missing or wrong, and the surname change after marriage.
Voter ID Name Change
Form 8, free, and the four different jobs it does.
Read →Aadhaar Linking and Mismatch
Form 6B is voluntary; why a mismatch fails the request.
Read →Name Missing or Wrong in the Roll
Form 6 or Form 8, the hearing, and the appeal ladder.
Read →Voter ID After Marriage
Surname and shifting of residence, in the same form.
Read →Father Name Correction in West Bengal: Every Document
The same field does a different job on each record, so each one asks for something different.
Father Name Correction in West Bengal
Whose gazette it is, and what each document needs.
Read →Father Name in a Passport
Two supporting documents, no gazette, but a reissue.
Read →Father Name in a Caste Certificate
His name is the evidence the certificate rests on.
Read →Father Name in a Domicile Certificate
On one version the certificate is about him.
Read →Father Name in an OBC Certificate
It carries both halves of the certificate.
Read →Get Call and Name Change Format
This One Is Free, and Usually You Do Not Need Us
Send us a photo of your voter record and tell us what it should say. If it is a Form 8 correction you can file tonight, we will say so plainly. If the relative has actually changed his name, we prepare his gazette in his name. Monday to Saturday.