Nearly 93% in 18-19 year age group not registered as voters in Maharashtra
Mumbai: Nearly 93 percent of the first-time voters in Maharashtra have still not registered themselves in the voter list. This was revealed on Friday during the draft publication of the electoral roll of the state. Maharashtra has a projected population of 47,83,070 between the age group of 18 to 19 years. The state branch of the Election Commission of India (ECI) has also deleted 15 lakh duplicate voters who had dual voter IDs. Maharashtra Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Shrikant Deshpande expressed deep concern over youth apathy towards electoral registration.
An official of the state branch of ECI said that the percentage of the 18-19 years age group population is 3.76 percent i.e. 47,83,070 of a total population 9,33,03, 964. However, the registered voter population in the state is 9,08,32,263. Of these, only 3,48,691 voters between 18-19 years of age have registered themselves in the state. “It is a serious cause of concern for us. Enrolling in the voter list is the first step for empowerment of democracy,” Mr. Deshpande said.
He also appealed to the eligible new voters to register their names and exercise their right to vote.
According to the state branch of ECI, the updating of the voter's list is very important for conducting elections in a transparent and fair manner. For this, the ECI undertakes a special summary revision program of the voter’s list. With the publication of draft elector list at voter registration office and the CEO’s official website in the state, the citizens in the state are requested to check their names, address, sex, date of birth, age, identity card number and constituency in the draft elector list as on the polling day, the voters complaint about the exclusion of their names from the voter list, Mr. Deshpande said.
“The voters, who want to amend their details, should submit an application in proforma number 8,” he said.
The Maharashtra CEO said that with the use of photo similar entry mechanism, they have found duplicate 40,19,948 voter Ids in 2022 and 29,09,476 in 2023. They have deleted more than 15 lakh voter identity cards including 14,90,460 voter identity cards in 2022 and 30,287 in 2023 after conducting the physical verification.
