Northeast

Youngsters above 17 years can apply in advance to enrol in voters list: CEO Manipur

Youngsters who are 17 years and above can file their advance applications with reference to three new subsequent qualifying dates (1st April, 1st July and 1st October) and not just January 1, CEO Rajesh Agrawal said.

ByIFP Bureau

Updated 2 Aug 2022, 9:41 am

(PHOTO: IFP)
(PHOTO: IFP)

Youngsters who are 17 years and above can apply in advance for having their names enrolled in the voters list and not necessarily have to wait for the pre-requisite criterion of attaining 18 years of age on January 1 every year, said Chief Electoral Officer, Manipur Rajesh Agrawal on Monday.

The CEO Manipur was speaking to the media at the CEO, Manipur office in Imphal West on the recent amendment of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 and the Representation of the People Act, 1951 by the Ministry of Law and Justice as per the recommendation of the ECI. 

Rajesh informed that the amendment covers the aspects of multiple qualifying dates for registration in the electoral roll, furnishing of Aadhaar number by the existing electors and citizens seeking registration in the electoral roll, gender neutral provisions for service electors and special electors and power to acquire premises for the conduct of elections.

He said youth about 17 years can file their advance applications with reference to three new subsequent qualifying dates (1st April, 1st July and 1st October) and not just January 1.

In this manner the electoral roll will be updated every quarter and eligible youngsters can be registered in the next quarter of the year in which he or she has attained the qualifying age of 18 years, he said adding after getting registered, the Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC) will be issued.

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The ECI has also made the registration forms more user friendly and simpler and the form will be available online or from the EROs or BLOs from Monday itself, he added.

To establish the identity of electors and authentication of entries in electoral roll, Rajesh informed that the Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) are statutorily authorised to obtain Aadhaar number from every person whose name is in the electoral roll.

This will help in establishing the identity of electors and authentication of entries in electoral rolls and in identifying registration of names of the same person in more than one constituency or more than once in the same constituency, he added.

In this regard, a state-wide intensive programme will be starting from Monday onwards for collection of Aadhaar from the electors. The programme will be completed with the target of achieving 100 per cent of electors registered in the electoral database by April 1, 2023, he said.

The purpose of obtaining Aadhaar number is to authenticate electors’ entries in electoral roll and for extending better electoral services to them in future, he said adding in case if the elector is unable to furnish Aadhaar Number, he or she needs to submit a copy of any of the eleven alternative documents approved by the ECI.

Reiterating the importance of furnishing Aadhaar by the electors, the CEO emphasised that the said exercise will help in authenticating the entries of electors and to provide better electoral services in future at the time of elections.

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He also appealed to all the electors to come forward and furnish their Aadhaar numbers voluntarily either online through NVSP or Voter Helpline App or by submitting physically to their respective BLOs or to EROs.

The 11 documents are Job Card, Passbook with photograph issued by Bank or Post Office, Health Insurance Smart Card issued under the scheme of Ministry of Labour, Driving License, PAN Card, Smart Card issued by RGI under NPR, Indian Passport, Pension document with photograph, Service Identity card with photograph issued to employees by Central/State/Govt/PSUs/Public Limited Companies, Official Identities Card issued to MPS/MLAs/MLCs, and Unique Identity ID(UDID) Card issued by Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.’

Informing that the word “wife” has been substituted by the word “spouse”, the CEO said accordingly, the husband of a female service personnel can now register as service elector along with his wife.

Earlier, only the wife of male service personnel was allowed to register as service elector along with her husband, he added.

He continued that the election authorities are empowered to requisition any premises likely to be needed for the purpose of being used as polling station, for counting, for storage of ballot boxes, voting machines (including voter verifiable paper audit trail) and poll related material after a poll has been taken, accommodation for security forces and polling personnel after the issuance of the election notification by the ECI.

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ECIManipur CEOelectoral rollRajesh Agrawalvoter list

IFP Bureau

IFP Bureau

IMPHAL, Manipur

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