The Election Commission (EC) on Thursday announced that youngsters above 17 years of age will now be able to apply in advance for having their names enrolled in the voters' list.
With this, the youngsters will now not necessarily have to await the pre-requisite criterion of attaining the age of 18 years on January 1 to get enrolled in the voters' list. The newly modified forms, which are simpler and more user friendly, will come into force on August1, 2022.
“17+ year old youngsters can now apply in advance for having their names enrolled in Voters' list and not necessarily have to await the pre-requisite criterion of attaining age of 18 years on 1st January of a year,” the Election Commission said in a statement.
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and Election Commissioner Anup Chandra Pandey have directed Chief Electoral Officers/Electoral Registration Officers and Assistant Electoral Returning Officers of all states to work out tech-enabled solutions such that the youth are facilitated to file their advance applications with reference to three subsequent qualifying dates - 1 April 1, July 1 and October 1 and not just January 1.
The Electoral Roll will be updated every quarter and eligible youngsters can be registered in the next quarter of the year in which he/she has attained the qualifying age of 18 years," the EC said.
The poll body said that the current round of annual revision of electoral roll, 2023, any citizen attaining the age of 18 years by 1 April, 1 July and 1 October of 2023 can also submit an advance application for registration as a voter from the date of draft publication of electoral roll. 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, it explained. EC has already managed to induct 1,736,181 (1.7 million) new voters between the ages of 18-19, people familiar with the matter said. Last year, 14,526,678 (14.5 million) new voters were added to the list.
The EC has also begun the process of linking Aadhaar numbers with Electoral Roll data. “(A) provision has been made in the modified registration forms to seek Aadhaar details of electors. A new Form-6B has also been introduced for collecting Aadhaar number of existing electors.
However, no application for inclusion of name in electoral roll shall be denied and no entries in electoral roll shall be deleted for inability of an individual to furnish or intimate Aadhaar Number… it is voluntary,” the statement added.