EC convenes meeting to boost urban voter turnout

Election Commission to hold conference with municipal commissioners and district officers from 11 states to address low voter turnout in upcoming polls.

In a first-of-its-kind initiative, the Election Commission of India will organise a conference on Friday with municipal commissioners and selected District Election Officers from 11 states which had the lowest voter turnouts in the 2019 elections. Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani, Thane Municipal Corporation Commissioner Saurabh Rao and Pune Municipal Commissioner Rajendra Bhosale have been told to attend.

Maharashtra will vote in all five phases of the Lok Sabha election.(HT File for representation)

The meeting on Friday at Nirvachan Sadan in New Delhi will discuss ways to step up voter turnout in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. “It will deliberate and prepare targeted and specific action plans to address the issue of low voter turnout in certain urban and rural areas. The conference will be chaired by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar along with Election Commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu,’’ said a Press Information Bureau release.

CEC Rajiv Kumar has on many occasions highlighted how urban apathy and migration from rural areas are the reasons for low voter turnouts.

Eleven States and union territories, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, national capital region of Delhi, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Telangana, Gujarat, Punjab, Rajasthan, J&K and Jharkhand had lower than the national average of 67.40% in 2019.

Of the 50 parliamentary constituencies with the lowest voter turnouts, 17 were found to be in metropolitan areas or major cities.

Over 50 rural parliamentary constituencies in nine states have been identified for developing strategies to enhance poll percentages.

The conference will be attended by municipal commissioners of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune, Thane, Nagpur, Patna Sahib, Lucknow and Kanpur as well as select District Election Officers of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. A booklet on voter apathy will be released by the commission, said the press release.

In Mumbai, the elections will be held on May 20, which falls on a Monday.