The Cacophony of a Billion- The 17th Lok Sabha Elections

 

With the 17th Lok Sabha Elections now underway, voting phases are coming up thick and fast. For this election, the Election Commission of India (EC) had planned a seven-phase election with Phase 1 having concluded on the 11th of April, 2019.

Phase 2, scheduled to be held on the 18th of April, will see 97 constituencies spread across 13 states going to the polls. Some notable states witnessing the polls would be Karnataka (14 seats), Maharashtra (10 seats) and Tamil Nadu (34 seats). Click here to see the full Lok Sabha Schedule.

 

For the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) will be delivered to 10.6 lakh polling stations across India.

 

There are roughly around 90 crores (900 million!) voters currently registered on the EC’s Electoral Roll and with two-thirds of these voters – twice the United States’ population – going to vote, one cannot emphasize enough how much each vote will count.

While it is common to see ideas such as ‘our vote will not make a difference’ or ‘there is little hope for change’  ingrained into the minds of most, we must ask ourselves this—

When has positive change ever happened overnight?

Around sixty crores of our one-hundred-and-twenty crore strong population is under the age of twenty-five, or simply put, form the youth of our nation.  It’s unfathomable to believe that if the world’s largest youth population responsibly casts their ballot, the ways of the old guard will still possess same influence.

The 2014 elections showed a great turn-out from the youth

Every vote wasted because someone thinks it ‘doesn’t matter’ is a vote that could have brought better roads, better sanitation; better governance. Sometimes, the only opinion that matters in the whole world is your own; so why waste it?

In case you haven’t got your name added to the electoral rolls but still would like to do so, it isn’t too late. To vote is your fundamental right and it’s the EC’s duty to make sure that this experience is as easy as possible.

Here is how you can register to vote in the Lok Sabha elections by filling a form on the National Voters Service Portal. This can be done from the comfort of your home and there is no need to go to any government office.

 

  1. Visit (the NSVP website) and click on the link for ‘Form 6‘. This application is also meant to be filled by those wanting to shift their constituency- if you happened to change addresses.
  2. Choose the language preference by selecting either the English, Hindi or Malayalam options available on the top right corner of the webpage.
  3. Fill in the relevant details such as your name, father’s name, DOB, permanent address etc.
  4. Upload the documents required for address proof and age proof. You will also need to upload a clear photograph of yourself for identification.
  5. Declare that all the information that you have provided is true and correct.
  6. On completion of the steps, the user will receive a unique acknowledgement number through which they can track their voter registration or the status of their request to alter their constituency or address. If you’ve already registered and would like to check if your name has been added to the electoral roll click here.

And voila, you are now eligible to make our country a better place.

 

Written by Rahul Alvares for MTTN

Artwork and infographics by Yashovardhan Parekh for MTTN

 

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