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This is an archive article published on January 25, 2019
What is National Voters Day?
The national voters day is celebrated to promote people's participation in elections by encouraging and felicitating young voters and to increase voter enrollment.
The first National Voters Day was celebrated in 2011 under the leadership of the then Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) S Y Quraishi. (file)
India is celebrating its 9th National Voters Day on Friday. It is celebrated every year on January 25, the day the Election Commission of India was founded, to promote people’s participation in elections by encouraging and felicitating young voters and to increase voter enrollment. It is organised to spread awareness among voters for promoting informed participation in the electoral process.
Keeping in mind the upcoming Lok Sabha elections this year, the theme of the NVD has been selected as ‘no voter to be left behind’. It will be celebrated at more than six lakh locations covering around ten lakh polling stations across the country. The first-time voters of the respective areas will be invited to collect their Elector Photo Identity Cards (EPIC).
President Ram Nath Kovind will be the chief guest at the event being organised by the EC at Manekshaw Centre in Delhi, Several other leaders including Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad are also scheduled to be present there.
The first National Voters Day was celebrated in 2011 under the leadership of the then Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) S Y Quraishi. Speaking to The Indian Express in 2017, Quraishi had said, “When I took over (as the CEC), my biggest concern was voters’ apathy. At that time only 12 per cent of youngsters in the 18-19 years age group were registered as voters. The indifference among the youths was rooted in lack of awareness about eligibility and enrollment process. Although voter education was not the Election Commission’s mandate then, I decided that an extensive awareness drive was the only way to end voters’ apathy.”
Emulating India’s example, six countries, including Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal and Bhutan, have started celebrating the National Voters Day.
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