Now, 17+ can apply in advance for voter ID

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Chandigarh, August 2

Now, those aged 17 plus can apply in advance for voter identity (ID) card.

Apprising about the amendments in the electoral roll, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Vijay N Zade, along with Additional Chief Electoral Officer Vinay Pratap Singh and Joint Chief Electoral Officer Sorabh Kumar Arora, said now, youngsters aged above 17 could apply in advance for having their names enrolled in the voters’ list and not necessarily have to await the pre-requisite criterion of attaining the age of 18 on January 1 of a year.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has directed the CEOs of all states to work out tech-enabled solutions so that the youth are facilitated to file their advance applications with reference to three subsequent qualifying dates such as April 1, July 1 and October 1 and not just January 1.

“Henceforth, the electoral roll will be updated every quarter,” said Dr Zade.

After getting registered, he/she would be issued an Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC). For the current round of annual revision of the electoral roll 2023, any citizen attaining the age of 18 by April 1, July 1 and October 1 of the year 2023 can submit an advance application for registration as a voter from the date of a draft publication of the electoral roll.

On the recommendations of the ECI, the Ministry of Law and Justice had recently amended the Representation of the People Act to provide for four qualifying dates — January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1 — as eligibility for youngsters to register in electoral rolls against the earlier single qualifying date of January 1.

The ECI has also made the registration forms more user-friendly and simpler. The new forms came into effect from August 1. However, all applications (claims and objections) received in old forms before August 1 will be processed and disposed of.

EPIC-Aadhaar linking

For linking of Aadhaar number with electoral roll data, a provision has been made in the modified registration forms to seek Aadhaar details of electors. A new form, Form 6B, has also been introduced for collecting Aadhaar number of existing electors. However, no application for inclusion of name in the electoral roll shall be denied and no entries in the electoral roll shall be deleted for inability of an individual to furnish or intimate Aadhaar number.

“A time-bound drive has been started from August 1 for collection of Aadhaar number of the existing electors. Furnishing of Aadhaar number is purely voluntary. Objective of the programme is to establish the identity of electors and authentication of entries in the electoral roll,” he said.