GANDHINAGAR: An estimated 3 to 4 lakh first-time voters are expected to qualify to exercise their franchise in the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections with the change in the qualifying date to October 1 from the earlier January 1, officials said Monday.
The state will go to polls in December 2022.
"The Election Commission (EC) has given four qualifying dates for enrolment of electoral rolls. This provides everyone who turns 18 on October 1 to enroll in the voters' list and exercise their franchise," Gujarat chief electoral officer P Bharathi said.
All those who attain the age of 18 by October 1 should get themselves registered to cast their vote, she said.
"We expect maximum number of new voters to register themselves. We expect approximately 3-4 lakh more new voters to be added," Bharathi said.
The EC will launch a special campaign on social media and on college campuses to include voters who complete 18 years on October 1 and prepare an up-to-date electoral roll, she said.
As per official data, there are 6.
18 lakh first-time voters in the electoral roll prepared on the basis of the previous eligibility date of January 1.
The draft electoral roll will be published on August 12, after which claims and objection applications can be submitted till September 11 regarding names registered in the voters' list or the name of a new voter, the official said.
The EC will publish the final voter list on October 10, she said.
There are a total of 4.83 lakh registered voters in Gujarat, of which 2.50 lakh are men and 2.33 lakh women.
Apart from this, a total of 51,782 polling stations have been identified after reorganisation, it was stated.
A campaign for special summary revision of the electoral roll will be conducted across the state on four consecutive Sundays starting August 21, in which right-claims and objection applications will be accepted, she said.
The EC has also made provisions to link Aadhaar number with electoral roll data in the modified registration forms.
A new Form-6B has also been introduced for collecting Aadhaar number of existing electors, the official said.
The EC has recently announced amendments to the laws and regulations related to the electoral roll, whereby any citizen attaining the age of 18 years by April 1, July 1 and October 1 of 2023 can submit an advance application for registration as a voter from the date of draft publication of electoral roll.
Earlier, those attaining the age of 18 on January 1 were considered eligible to enroll themselves in the voters' list.