<p> In order to attract individuals to participate in the electoral process as soon as they complete 18 years, the government has decided to earmark two cut-off dates for enrolment of voters.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The Ministry of Law is set to amend the Representatives of People Act (RP Act) 1950 to mark two cut-off dates in a year--January 1 and July 1- for enrolment of voters.<br /><br />At present, as per Section 14 (b) of the RP Act, only those who turn 18 on or before January 1, the day on which the electoral rolls are prepared or revised, are eligible for enroling themselves in the electoral list.<br /><br />So far, an individual attaining the age of 18 after January 1 had to wait until next year to enrol himself in the voters list which invariably made him ineligible to vote in any polls that year. Now, the ones completing 18 years by July 1, will also become eligible for enrolment that year itself, said an official. <br /><br />The Election Commission of India had earlier written to the Ministry of Law seeking to amend the RP Act to ensure that all those who attained the age of 18, irrespective of the January 1 cut-off date, should be made eligible for enroling themselves as voters.<br /><br /> However, while rejecting the proposal saying it required amendment of the Constitution, the Ministry of Law agreed for two cut-off dates in a year as it required only amendment to the RP Act.<br /><br />As per the 2011 census’ single year age data released by Census of India, as many as 2,79,49,127 people – 1,50,15,960 men and 1,29,33,167 women – will be attaining the age of 18 this year. “If only one cut-off date is in place, many may not be eligible to exercise their right this year. They will have to wait for next year to complete the cut-off date,” said the official. <br /><br />The recently released electoral roll data suggests that only 3.6 lakh of those enroled to vote in the Assembly elections are aged 18 or 19 against the 6.4 lakh youth in 16-17 age group as per the 2011 census.</p>
<p> In order to attract individuals to participate in the electoral process as soon as they complete 18 years, the government has decided to earmark two cut-off dates for enrolment of voters.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The Ministry of Law is set to amend the Representatives of People Act (RP Act) 1950 to mark two cut-off dates in a year--January 1 and July 1- for enrolment of voters.<br /><br />At present, as per Section 14 (b) of the RP Act, only those who turn 18 on or before January 1, the day on which the electoral rolls are prepared or revised, are eligible for enroling themselves in the electoral list.<br /><br />So far, an individual attaining the age of 18 after January 1 had to wait until next year to enrol himself in the voters list which invariably made him ineligible to vote in any polls that year. Now, the ones completing 18 years by July 1, will also become eligible for enrolment that year itself, said an official. <br /><br />The Election Commission of India had earlier written to the Ministry of Law seeking to amend the RP Act to ensure that all those who attained the age of 18, irrespective of the January 1 cut-off date, should be made eligible for enroling themselves as voters.<br /><br /> However, while rejecting the proposal saying it required amendment of the Constitution, the Ministry of Law agreed for two cut-off dates in a year as it required only amendment to the RP Act.<br /><br />As per the 2011 census’ single year age data released by Census of India, as many as 2,79,49,127 people – 1,50,15,960 men and 1,29,33,167 women – will be attaining the age of 18 this year. “If only one cut-off date is in place, many may not be eligible to exercise their right this year. They will have to wait for next year to complete the cut-off date,” said the official. <br /><br />The recently released electoral roll data suggests that only 3.6 lakh of those enroled to vote in the Assembly elections are aged 18 or 19 against the 6.4 lakh youth in 16-17 age group as per the 2011 census.</p>
