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HIGHLIGHTS
- 2.85 lakh youngsters turned 18 in January this year
- But thousands of them haven't been able to register as voters
- Many complained that website for online enrolment was not functioning properly
On March 10, when the Election Commission announced the schedule for a seven-phase Lok Sabha poll, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted: "I hope this election witnesses a historic turnout. I particularly call upon first-time voters to vote in record numbers." The PM's hope and appeal were in line of all parties' effort to woo the key swing constituency of first-time voters - full of new ideas and aspirations.
About a month on, Delhi has thrown up a dampener. Most of the 2.85 lakh youngsters, who turned 18 on January 1 this year, will not be able to vote because they have not been registered as electors.
This is when a scramble - voter awareness campaigns in colleges and universities and roping in of celebrities - by election officials has resulted in one lakh fresh such voters in the last one month, as per the data provided by Delhi's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Dr Ranbir Singh. The window of electoral rolls revision in Delhi is effectively over.
The elections begin on Thursday. Delhi, with seven seats, goes to the polls on May 12 in the sixth phase. While there were expectations that the number of first-time voters in Delhi will go up, it has actually come down from 3.37 lakh in 2014 to 2.14 lakh now (as on Monday). This is despite the fact that the number of youth between the ages of 18 and 19 in the city has spiked from 4 lakh to 5 lakh between the two Lok Sabha elections. The total number of voters in Delhi has also gone up from 1.27 crore to 1.41 crore between 2014 and 2019.
Mail Today found that the fall in the number of first-time voters may be due to failures of electoral machineries, technical enrollment glitches, general apathy among youth and weak awareness campaigns.
"It could be the failure of electoral machineries which may not connect with youth properly," said Sanjay Kumar of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS).
Many youngsters aged 18 and 19 years who wanted to vote blamed technical glitches in online enrolment systems.
"I tried to register myself. They said we can do it until April 11. But the website doesn't work," said Ashish Sharma, a 19-yearold student at IP University. Delhi-based political analyst Anupam explained low enthusiasm among youngsters.
"In 2014, there was a very strong antiincumbency current against Congress. The anti-corruption movement had given citizens a very strong reason to vote. It had a big impact on all sections of voters, including first timers," he said.
"In this election, in spite of failures of the government on employment, agriculture and economy fronts, many voters are not seeing alternative faces as the Opposition is divided in so many political parties," he said.
Delhi's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Dr Ranbir Singh, however, defended his department's efforts.
"We have been regularly organising camps in Delhi University and private colleges, besides areas around educational hubs and coaching centers, to encourage youngsters to register as voters," he said. "We are also using social networking platforms where youngsters are very active these days. Besides, we have invited youth icons such as cricketer Rishabh Pant and table tennis player Manika Batra to encourage youngsters to vote," he said.
Overall, about 1.5 crore electors in the 18-19 age group will be eligible to vote for the first time in India. All citizens who turned 18 on January 1 this year and registered as electors can cast their vote.
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