GUWAHATI: India celebrates National Voters Day (NVD) on January 25 since 2011 to mark the foundation day of the Election Commission of India. The current commission was established in 1950. The NVD is celebrated with an aim to encourage, facilitate and maximize the enrolment, especially for the new voters.
The day is dedicated to the voters of the country and it is utilized to spread awareness among voters to promote informed participation in the electoral process.
According to the Election Commission, NVD is celebrated at over 10 lakh locations across the nation, that include polling station areas, sub divisions, divisions, district and state headquarters.
The year 2020 marks an important milestone in the history of the Indian democracy as the Election Commission of India completes 70 years of its journey.
This year also marks the 10th year celebration of National Voters Day in India.
A theme is selected each year which sets the tone for the year-long activities which focus on voter education and renewal of citizens’ faith in the electoral process, as per the Election Commission of India.
The theme for 2015 was "Easy Registration, Easy Correction", 2016 was "Inclusive and qualitative participation", 2017 was "Empowering Young and Future Voters", 2018 was "Assessable Elections", 2019 was “No Voter to be left behind”.
The theme of NVD 2020 is ‘Electoral Literacy for Stronger Democracy’.
This year Belief in the Ballot-2, an anthology of 101 human stories from across the nation about Indian elections will be launched by the Commission.
'The Centenarian Voters: Sentinels of Democracy' with 51 stories of veteran voters across the nation who braved difficult terrain, poor health and other challenges to come out and vote will also be launched. On this day National Awards are also being conferred for excellence, proficiency and innovation in election processes and procedures.
It is to be mentioned that overall voter turnout for the Assam Legislative Assembly Election of 2016 was 84.72%, which set a new record for Assam. It was an increase from the turnout of the 2011 Assembly election which was 75%.
It is to be noted that the voter turnout of 2019 Lok Sabha election was the highest ever with a tentative of 67.11%. In 2014 the overall turnout was 66.44% which was the highest ever in Lok Sabha elections until 2019.