On January 25, the eve of Republic Day, India celebrates its National Voters’ Day to commemorate the founding day of the Election Commission (EC) of India. The day holds significance in India as it is dedicated to raise awareness among the citizens of India on voter rights and duties.
The EC was formed on January 25 in 1950 but the first ever Voters’ Day was celebrated in 2011.
History
In a meeting chaired by the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2011, the Law Ministry’s proposal to observe January 25 as Voters’ Day was approved by the Union Cabinet. The main objective of Voters’ Day is to increase voter enrollment and encourage the youth of the nation to exercise their right and duty to vote.
Voters’ day is also the day to celebrate and uphold the Indian democracy.
Theme
The theme for the 10th National Voters’ Day is ‘Electoral Literacy for Stronger Democracy,’ it aims at educating the people of India on the responsibility to vote and its importance. In accordance with the theme, the EC will hold several activities throughout the year to renew citizens’ faith in the electoral process.
Voters' pledge
“We, the Citizens of India, having abiding faith in democracy, hereby pledge to uphold the democratic traditions of our country and the dignity of free, fair and peaceful elections, and to vote in every election fearlessly and without being influenced by considerations of religion, race, caste, community, language or any other inducement.”
Voters day celebrations
The 10th National Voters’ Day will be celebrated in New Delhi in the presence of the President of India Ram Nath Kovind. The day celebrated over 10 lakh locations all over India including polling stations areas, sub divisions, divisions, district and state headquarters.
During the ceremony, Belief in the Ballot-2, an anthology of 101 human stories from across the nation about Indian elections will be launched and the first copy will be presented to President Kovind.
The Centenarian Voters: Sentinels of Democracy which also is a collection of 51 stories of veteran voters across the nation who braved difficult terrain, poor health and other challenges to come out and vote will be launched on the occasion by the Hon'ble President.
The president will present the National Awards for the Best Electoral Practices to state and district level officers for their exceptional execution of elections in different spheres such as IT initiatives, Security Management, Election Management and contribution in the field of voter awareness and outreach.
