Around 43 per cent electorate did not vote in the Jharkhand Assembly elections held in 2009. And in Ranchi constituency, as many as 67 per cent did not exercise franchise.
More recently, 62 per cent electorate did not come out of their houses to queue up at polling stations during municipal elections in the State capital! The civic election was, in fact, considered a trial run for the Assembly and parliamentary elections, which are expected to be held in October-November.
Shocked by the continuing drop in people’s participation, the Election Commission of India (EC) has moved to involve State universities and colleges to enrol more and more 18-plus students during the ongoing electoral roll revision exercise.
State Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) PK Jajoria told The Pioneer that under the plan, universities and colleges have been asked to hand over voter registration forms along with admission related forms to students who have achieved the age of voting. “Students will be given voter cards along with their identity cards,” he added.
The Chief Electoral Officer said he has already discussed the issue with the human resource development department officials and another meeting will be held with registrars of universities soon, to work out modalities.
The move has been initiated by the poll panel in view of a gap between the number of voters and population of above 18 years, according to the latest census report.
Jajoria pointed out that at least 6.71 lakh young voters are still to be listed. “We want to complete the exercise by May 31,” he added. There are around 1.90 crore voters in the State, though the population is pegged at 3.29 crore in 2011 census.
The Electoral Officer also said there is gender gap in the voters’ list. “Though the sex ratio is pegged at 947 in the latest census, it is just 881 in the voters’ list,” said Jajoria.
“That’s why we have involved child development project officers (CDPOs), anganwadi workers, ANMs, sahiyas to encourage more and more women to register themselves as voters and bridge the gender gap,” he added.
The Election Commission, on Wednesday, had reviewed progress of the ongoing special electoral roll revision in Jharkhand with the Chief Electoral Officer.
Jajoria said they were also going to aggressively campaign to create awareness among voters through films and mobile vans. “We have sought Rs 32.70 crore from the State Government to buy mobile vans and prepare films to create awareness of the importance of participation in the electoral exercise,” he added.
“In the first phase, we will be going to those polling stations which have registered low percentage of votes in the last elections,” he added.
The CEO said he had received a large number of complaints regarding errors in the voters list, like typographical errors. “The electorate could also move to rectify these errors by May 31. Deputy Commissioners too have been asked to take effective steps. We have also developed a new software to detect such mistakes and rectify,” he added.
One of the factors for the dwindling voting percentage was supposed to be the growing disaffection with the political process among young people. Most parties, including the BJP and AJSU, are eying the young and women voters to shore up their prospects.
Former Chief Minister Arjun Munda said parties need to engage with youth by creating spaces for conversation about ‘stuff that matters’ – learning, work, skill development, health and environment — to make them aware of the importance of their vote. “We have to respond to the needs of young citizens,” he pointed out.