Heena Sharma Blog

Are you worried about not being able to vote in Lok Sabha elections 2019 because you are on the move? Well, you're not the only one. India's 900 million voters are expected to take part in the world’s biggest democratic exercise, but, according to an analysis published by Business Standard, despite a mammoth number of voters, India is behind several countries when it comes to the number of people turning up to vote. India had a record voter turnout of 66.4 per cent in 2014. This is still lower than the global median of 68.03 per cent. There could be many reasons for this. One of the causes for the 'lost vote' is that many registered voters are on the move or have relocated in search of jobs. According to a report by the Times of India, 281 million registered voters did not vote in Lok Sabha Elections 2014 because they were on the move. These would include voters who move in search of work or for higher education, those who shift from city to city on work every fe

Have you linked your voter ID with Aadhaar yet? Soon, linking of voter ID with Aadhaar maybe made mandatory. According to a report published in Economic Times, the Election Commission, in a shift in its stand, is preparing to pitch for the mandatory, legally backed, linking of voter IDs with Aadhaar number . "The commission will propose amendments to the Representation of the People Act, 1951, that will require citizens to link their Electoral Photo ID Card (EPIC) with the 12-digit Aadhaar, while ensuring privacy protection," the report said. In October, EC informed the Madras High Court it had no object linking Aadhaar with electoral rolls and voter ID card as sought in a public interest litigation to check bogus and invalid entries. The commission, however, said a decision has to be taken keeping in view the recent Supreme Court order on the Centre's flagship Aadhaar scheme. Read More Business Standard