NEW DELHI: The number of young voters aged 18-29 years in the country increased to 21.7 crore as per the revised electoral rolls with January 1, 2025 as the reference date, from 21.5 crore a year ago, while the overall electorate rose to 99.1 crore from 96.9 crore over the same period.
Sharing this data ahead of the 15th National Voters’ Day (NVD) — celebrated on January 25 every year — the Election Commission on Wednesday added that the electoral rolls now also bear a more gender-balanced look with a 6-point increase in the electoral gender ratio, defined as female voters per 1,000 male voters, to 954 from 948 last year.
The NVD event hosted by the Election Commission will have President Droupadi Murmu as the ‘chief guest’ and law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal as the ‘guest of honour’. The theme of the NVD celebrations — to be led by chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar along with election commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and S S Sandhu — is ‘Nothing Like Voting, I Vote for Sure’. This is in continuation of last year’s theme emphasising the importance of participation in the electoral process, and encouraging voters to take pride in exercising their franchise.
A two-day conference is also being organised prior to the NVD event, where heads and representatives of election management bodies from across the world will deliberate on the major issues faced in election management.
The NVD event on January 25 will witness President Murmu presenting the Best Electoral Practices Awards to state and district officials who demonstrated exemplary performance in ensuring the smooth conduct of elections. Special recognition will be given to initiatives that enhanced voter participation, such as innovative outreach campaigns, the use of technology for seamless election management, and efforts that made elections accessible to all.
The first copy of the ECI Coffee Table Book titled “India Votes 2024: A saga of democracy” will be presented to the President by CEC Rajiv Kumar at the NVD event. “The publication is a tribute to every voter, election official, security personnel and all the stakeholders who contributed to the success of the 18th Lok Sabha elections. It will offer the readers a glimpse into India’s democratic journey of the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 through vivid visuals and compelling narratives,” an EC spokesperson said on Wednesday.
A short clip of the upcoming docu-drama series “India Decides” produced by Warner Bros Discovery will also be released at the event. An ECI publication “Belief in the Ballot: Human stories shaping India’s 2024 elections” will also be presented to the President by the Commission. The book is a curated set of human interest stories that set these elections apart.
