Behind govt, PM Modi push on first-time voters, the rise in their numbers by nearly a quarter

SET TO announce the Lok Sabha poll schedule in the coming days, the Election Commission has spent the past few months updating the electoral rolls. While the list will continue to be updated till the last date of filing of nominations by candidates, the EC said in early February that so far it had registered 96.9 crore voters for the general elections, up by 6% from 91.2 crore in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Since the beginning of 2023 alone, the EC has added 2.63 crore new voters.

Of the additional 5.68 crore voters, 1.85 crore are first-time voters, the EC said, or about 1.91% of the total. Compared to 2019, when there were 1.5 crore first-time voters, enrollment of those aged 18-19 is up by about 23% this year, significant when several issues related to the youth such as unemployment, educational opportunities are big concerns among voters. In 2019, first-time voters accounted for a marginally lower share of the electorate at 1.64%.

Earlier this week, the government launched a national campaign to encourage first-time voters to exercise their franchise. Last month, as part of the BJP youth outreach, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also virtually interacted with about 30 lakh first-time voters and urged them to send suggestions for the BJP’s election manifesto.

“Your vote and the country’s direction for the future are merged. It will make India the third largest economy and bring stable governments … It will make India more influential in the world. Your one vote has great strength,” Modi said.

The PM also appealed to first-time voters in his most recent “Mann Ki Baat” radio address. “Bharat is proud of its youth power that is full of passion and energy and the more the youth participate in the electoral process, the better