Every year on January 25, National Voters’ Day is celebrated to encourage citizens to participate in the election process. This year marks the 12th anniversary of the festival.
History
On January 25, 2011, the first-ever National Voters’ Day was celebrated to encourage more young people to participate in the democratic process. A proposal from the law ministry was adopted by the Union government, which was then led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
At the time, former information and communications minister Ambika Soni noted that new voters above the age of 18 were exhibiting less interest in joining the electoral rolls.
The Election Commission has decided to undertake a statewide effort to identify all eligible voters who turn 18 on January 1 of each year in all polling locations across India to address this issue, according to Soni. Every year on January 25, such voters would be enrolled and granted an Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC).
Theme
‘Making Elections Inclusive, Accessible, and Participative’ is the theme for this year’s National Voters’ Day. The chief guest for this event was expected to be Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu. He will, however, deliver a virtual message , just as he is recovering from a Covid 19 infection and will not be physically present at the occasion.
Koo releases a multilingual voter rights and responsibilities guide.
On the occasion of National Voters’ Day, the microblogging platform Koo has released a multilingual handbook on voter rights and responsibilities, aimed at assisting first-time voters in five states in making educated decisions during the upcoming assembly elections.
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