In News:

• The Election Commission of India recently announced that those over the age of 17 can now apply in advance to be enrolled in the voters' list.
• They do not have to wait until they reach the age of 18 on January 1 of each year.
• With this announcement, ECI has begun the process of incorporating the changes announced by the govt recently regarding electoral reforms.

What’s in today’s article:

• Who is entitled to vote in India?
• News Summary

Who is entitled to vote in India?

• Part XV (Article 324-329) of the Indian Constitution consists of provisions to ensure free and fair elections in India and empowers the Parliament of India to regulate the electoral process.
• In this regard, the Parliament passed the Representation of the People Act (RPA), 1950 (and the Representation of the People Act, 1951).
  • The 1950 Act provides for allocation of seats and delimitation of constituencies for elections, qualifications of voters, preparation of electoral rolls.
  • The 1951 Act regulates the actual conduct of elections and by-elections.
    • It provides for the conduct of elections and offences and disputes related to elections.
    • It also deals with the registration of political parties, the qualifications and disqualifications for membership of the Houses.
• Persons entitled to vote in an election are those who are registered as voters under the provisions of the Indian Constitution and the Representation of the People Act (RPA), 1950.
• As per the Indian Constitution (under Article 326), all Indian citizens above the age of 18 years who have registered themselves as voters are eligible to vote.
• Eligible voters have to register themselves in the constituency where they live, upon which they will be issued photo election identity cards.

Background:

• The govt had issued four notifications to give effect to the electoral reforms enacted by Election Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021 (passed by the Parliament in late 2021).
• The changes made by the notification were:
  • Voluntary Linking of voter ID with Aadhaar
    • The notification specified April 1, 2023 as the date on or before which every person whose name exists in the electoral rolls may intimate his Aadhaar number.
  • To ease the enrolment schedule for first-time voters
    • It allowed four qualifying dates in a year — January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1 —for those above 18 years, to register themselves as voters.
  • Make voting by special procedure gender neutral
    • The notification replaced the word “wife” with “spouse” so as to allow woman Army officer’s husband to be enrolled as a service voter.
  • More power to Election Commission
    • It empowered EC to requisition premises for any purpose related to elections.

News Summary:

• First-time voters can soon apply for inclusion of their names in the voter’s list even before they attain the minimum voting age of 18 years.
• The new voters who complete 18 years on April 1, July 1 and October 1 of any given year, and not just January 1, will be eligible for enrolling as voters.
  • However, ECI has announced that all 17 years-plus youths who will be turning 18 on each of the four qualifying dates can submit their claims in advance.
    • They can start applying from the date of draft publication of electoral rolls.
  • E.g., the special summary revision with reference to January 1, 2023 as qualifying date has already been ordered.
  • Hence, under the new model, the 17-year-olds can start applying for inclusion in rolls starting November 9, 2022, the date of publication of draft rolls.

What was the earlier registration policy?

• Earlier, the revision of electoral rolls was done with reference to January 1st.
  • The Representation of the People Act allowed voter registration for those who have attained the age of 18 only once.
  • Only those who have attained the age of 18 years as on January 1 of that year or before is eligible to be enrolled in the voters’ list.
  • Due to only one cut-off date, a person turning 18 years on January 2 cannot be registered and needs to wait for the next year
• Now enrolment of first-time voters will be allowed four times a year. This was done by amending Section 20(6) of the RP Act.