Individuals turning 18 years by October 1 next year can register in voter’s list

Imphal: With the new reformation of Special Summary Revision, 2023 any individual who is turning 18 years till October 1 next year can get registered themselves as legal voters, said chief electoral officer (CEO), Manipur Rajesh Agarwal who is also principal secretary (Election).

The CEO was speaking on the sideline to reporters at a one-day State Level Consultative Workshop on Electoral Literacy Club (ELC) programme held at Hotel Classic Grande, Chingmeirong, Imphal on Thursday.

The workshop was organised by Chief Electoral Officer, Manipur.

With new reformation of SSR, 2023 any individual can get registered themselves as legal voter if they turned 18 years within four qualifying dates which are January 1, 2023; April 1, 2023; July1, 2023 and October 1, 2023.

Agarwal said when an individual gets registered, their EPIC card (voter card) will be sent to them through post when they are qualified with the respective qualifying dates.

He said registering oneself as a legal voter is the first step towards electoral empowerment for a democratic country.

The main objective of the workshop was to educate the targeted population about voter registration, electoral process and related matter through hands on experiences.

Rajesh said there are around 500 ELCs in schools, colleges and other institutions and during the workshop the ELCs will be given knowledge to encourage to get registered themselves as legal voters if the individual is 18 years and above.

The objectives for ELCs is also to facilitate EVM and VVPAT familarisation and education about the robustness of EVM as well as the integrity of the electoral process using EVMs; to help the target audience understand the value of their vote and exercise their right to franchise in a confident, comfortable and ethical manner; and to harness the potential of ELC members for carrying the electoral literacy in communities and to facilitate voter registration for its eligibility members who are not yet registered.

He said during the workshop that the ELCs will be made aware the reforms of electoral landscape.

He appealed the people to get registered as legal voter if they are eligible to get registered and to enjoy their voting rights.

Joint chief electoral officer (II), Md S Daulat Khan who is also Manipur and state nodal officer for SVEEP, presented on electoral literacy club.

In the presentation he described what works to be done by the members of ELC, objectives of ECLs, mandatory rules to be followed by ELCs and others.

Around 100 members from different ELCs attended the workshop.