Bengaluru: Governor Vajubhai Vala on Monday observed that though the State Election Commission was set up 66 years ago, 100 per cent voting is still a distant dream. At the National Voter’s Day 2016 at Town Hall on Monday, he said that only 70-75 per cent of citizens voted, while the remaining 25 per cent stayed at home.
“Youngsters constitute nearly 65 per cent of the country’s population. If we have to strengthen our democracy then citizens should cast their votes responsibly. Many citizens complain about infrastructure problems and other lapses in the system, but don’t cast their vote during elections. To choose honest and good leaders, citizens must be aware and responsible,” he said.
He stressed that gone are the days of “as the ruler, so the ruled” and it is now the time for “as the ruled, so the ruler”. “The more informed the voter, the better the leader,” he said.
State Election Commissioner Anil Kumar Jha said that this year, 5.91 lakh citizens enrolled themselves in the electoral rolls, of them 3.31 lakh are women.
“It’s a good sign to see more voters in the electoral rolls and especially to have more number of women is a progressive sign. The population ratio of male-female is 1000:973 but the voter ratio of male-female is 1000:966. It has to improve,” he said. He said that 2.71 lakh first-time voters between 18-19 age group had enrolled for the voter IDs.
