Election Commission moves to catch young voters younger

The Election Commission has moved to catch the young voters even when they are younger.

A teenager can now apply in advance for enrollment as a voter even if she or he is a few months shy of being 18. The EC has now decided to make arrangements for youngsters aged 17 plus to apply in advance for having themselves enrolled in the electoral rolls, instead of waiting to reach the qualifying age of 18.

Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and Election Commissioner Anup Pandey directed the Chief Election Officers and the Electoral Registration Officers in the states and the union territories to work out tech-enabled solutions to facilitate the youths, who already turned 17, to apply in advance for enrollment as voters even before they would turn 18, according to a press-release issued by the EC on Thursday.

They would however be able to cast votes only after turning 18 on or after any of the four qualifying dates in a year – January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1.

The Section 14 (b) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 had earlier specified January 1 as the qualifying date for eligibility for enrollment in the electoral roll of a particular year. Thus a person turning 18 after January 1 in a year had remained deprived of voting right and had to wait for enrollment as voter till the revision of the roll next year. The EC had suggested that the law might be amended so that a person could be enrolled in the roll the day she or he would turn 18. But the Ministry of Law had rejected the proposal. The EC had then proposed four qualifying dates in a calendar year – January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1.

The Election Laws (Amendment) Act, which was brought into force early this year, amended the RP Act 1950 as proposed by the EC.

“For the current round of annual revision of electoral roll, 2023, any citizen attaining the age of 18 years by April 1, July 1 and October 1 of 2023 can also submit an advance application for registration as a voter from the date of draft publication of electoral roll,” the EC stated on Thursday.