'Urban voters, youth apathy challenge for poll panel'

CEC Kumar and a team of senior officials from ECI are in Bengaluru to review poll preparedness ahead of the forthcoming Legislative Assembly election in the state

Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said on Friday that urban apathy towards elections and voting is a major challenge before the Election Commission of India (ECI).

Kumar and a team of senior officials from ECI are in Bengaluru to review poll preparedness ahead of the forthcoming Legislative Assembly election in the state.

Addressing the audience during ‘VOTE FEST 2023’ organised by CEO Karnataka and BBMP to motivate youth to cast vote, Kumar said a major challenge before the Election Commission was general apathy among young and urban voters.

He said that election day is usually seen as a holiday. Youth believe that their votes do not influence government decision-making, he said.

He stressed the importance of motivating non-voters to cast their votes.

Kumar also held a meeting with the District Election Officers.

Election Hackathon-ELECTHON 2023, a collaborative effort between the Election Commission of India and various stakeholders, was also launched. That apart, eight mobile vans with LED hoardings carrying voter awareness messages were launched. These vehicles will cover all 28 assembly constituency segments of Bengaluru.