11L 17-year-olds pre-register to enrol as voters: CEC

NEW DELHI: Eleven lakh youths aged 17 years have submitted advance applications for enrolment as voters after the Election Commission allowed those above 17 to preregister for inclusion in the electoral roll, chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar shared in his address to the nation on the eve of 13th National Voters Day (NVD).

All the advance applicants are enrolled as voters and willbe delivered election photo identity card ( EPIC ) via speedpost by the EC once they complete 18 years of age, he said.

Kumar said the revised electoral roll published earlier this month lists a total 94. 5 crore electors, which include nearly 1. 43 crore newly-eligible voters aged between 18 and 19 years, 2 crore senior citizens above 80 years of age comprising 3 lakh centenarians, 85,000 persons with disabilities (PwD voters) and 47,500 third gender voters. President Droupadi Murmu will be chief guest at an event on Wednesday to celebrate National Voters’Day. The function will also be attended by law minister Kiren Rijiju .

The CECsaid while electoral participation has gone up from 44. 8% in 1951-52 general election to 67. 4% in 2019, 30 crore voters still do not vote due to factors like urban apathy, youth apathy and domestic migration. He said the EC was striving to facilitate those who don’t vote for a variety of reasons.