Now, four qualifying dates to enrol new voters every year

Shimla, August 8

On the recommendations of the Election Commission of India, an amendment has been made to Section 14(b) of the Representation of the People Act to insert four qualifying dates (or cut-off dates) – January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1— to enrol as voters.

The move will help the electorate to enrol as fresh voters for the coming Assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir. As of now, the cut-off date for enrolment as a new voter was January 1, but the amendment will facilitate the youngsters to enrol themselves on any of the four dates.

Revealing this at a meeting with representatives of political parties here today, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Maneesh Garg said the lone cut-off date deprived several youngsters from participating in the electoral exercise. “With the amendment, the new voters can enrol themselves in the voters list on multiple cut-off dates,” he said.

He said the voters also have an opportunity to link their Aadhaar numbers with their voter card. “The process has started from August 1 but this is purely on voluntary basis. The move is to ensure more transparency,” he said.

The commission also simplified the process for changing the constituency, shifting of residence and for correction of particulars entered in the electoral rolls by filling Form 8, which is available on Voters Helpline App and National Voter’s Service Portal.

“The voters can also contact booth-level officers (BLOs),” he said. “A special summary revision will be done from August 16 to September 11, and BLO will make house-to-house visit to ensure it,” he said.

The CEO held a virtual meeting of the Systematic Voter Education and Electoral Participation Core Committee with all DCs, directing them to focus on the enrolment of new voters. He also directed the DCs to visit polling stations which had low turnout in the last Assembly elections to conduct ‘Chunav Pathshalas’ and also run IEC campaigns. “As of now, 68 new polling stations have been added to the existing strength of 7,813 polling stations in the state. The total numbers of polling stations now are 7,881,” he said.