Voters should follow their mind and vote fearlessly in order to ensure a strong and healthy democracy, said Uttarakhand Governor Krishan Kant Paul while speaking at the function organised on Wednesday to commemorate the seventh National Voters’ Day at the Raj Bhawan on Wednesday. He appealed to voters to ensure a peaceful atmosphere during the forthcoming assembly elections on February 15 and resolve to exercise their right to vote hundred per cent.
Addressing the programme, the Governor said that voters were the foundation of a strong democracy which in turn led to the progress of the nation. Voters should follow their minds and vote fearlessly in order to ensure a strong and healthy democracy. Voters should exercise their right fearlessly and strengthen democracy. The Governor said that this festival of democracy was a symbol of the trust that the public had in the democratic system set up through the Constitution. This system gives each voter the right to choose an impartial and progressive government .The responsibility of the voters was to exercise this right without being influenced by factors like caste, religion, language and others. He spoke about the challenging journey of elections in the country that began from 1952 when the first election was held.
He said it had been a historic journey which had seen many remarkable improvements on the way. These improvements had increased the confidence that people had in the Election Commission which has always maintained a mature election system despite challenges. The Election commission of India had become a model for the world due to its modernization and simple arrangements.
The Governor read out the oath/pledge of the election commission which all people present repeated after him. He gave voter Id cards to ten young voters (first time voters – 18 year olds) and gave them information about their rights and duties. The Governor also unveiled the election calendar.
Uttarakhand chief electoral officer Radha Raturi threw light on the observation of national voters’ day. She said that despite the difficult terrain in the state, the election department had made available Photo Id cards to all voters in the state. The total number of voters in the state stands at 74, 95, 688 out of which 39, 23, 492 are men and 35, 72, 045 are women. 151 are third gender voters 54000 out of the total voters are newly registered voters who have attained the age of 18. She also said that there was 67.22 per cent voting in the state in the 2012 assembly elections in the state .This time, many efforts were being made to encourage voters and raise the percentage to 80 per cent, she informed.