Electoral office to launch special drive, rope in colleges

The Chief Electoral Office in Maharashtra will launch a special drive to register young voters by involving colleges and giving awards to institutions with 100% voter registration. Currently, less than 10% of first-time eligible voters are on the electoral roll.

Mumbai: The Chief Electoral Office in Maharashtra has decided to launch a special drive to register young voters by roping in colleges and giving awards to educational institutions that achieve 100% voter registration. The decision was taken after a review of the draft electoral roll revealed that over 90 percent of first-time eligible voters in the state are not part of the voter’s list.

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The draft electoral roll was published on October 27 under the short revision programme, as per guidelines of the Election Commission of India. It enlisted a total of 9,08,32,263 voters, who comprise 71.41% of the state’s population.

While reviewing the draft roll, it was found that at present, Maharashtra has 47,83,070 first-time eligible voters aged 18-19 years, who comprise 3.76% of the state’s population. But only 3,48,691 of them – or less than 10 percent – are enlisted in the electoral roll, and their overall share in the roll is a mere 0.27%.

The representation of 20-29 year old youths in the voter’s list was slightly better, the review showed. The number of youths in this age group in Maharashtra is 2,59,29,206, or 20.38% of the population. But only 1,55,11,376 among them are registered in the voter’s list, and their share in the list is 12.19%.

“Our data shows that most young voters have not registered their names in the voter’s list. So we have decided to undertake a special drive in college campuses. We will also give out the ‘Outstanding Voter Friend College Award’ to colleges which organise awareness activities and have 100% voter registration,” said Shrikant Deshpande, the state chief electoral officer.

He added that the special drive would extend to women, disabled and transgender persons who were not enrolled in the voter’s list.

The programme for updating the voter’s list will continue till December 9. Citizens who have completed 18 years of age on or before January 1, 2024, will be eligible for advance voter registration during this period.