The National Voters’ Day is observed on January 25 every year to mark the foundation day of the Election Commission of India in 1950. This day is meant to encourage, facilitate and maximise enrolment of new voters.

Voting is the central pillar of any functioning democracy and India, since its first general election in 1951, has adopted the principles of universal adult franchise. Citizens vote once every five years to elect representatives to the national, state and local legislative bodies.

The power of the vote holds immense significance as it puts the will of the people into action when it comes to choosing who should govern and legislate on their behalf.

The 2019 Lok Sabha elections clocked a record turnout of 67.11%, out of over 900 million registered voters.

Significance of National Voters’ Day

The National Voters’ Day has been celebrated on January 25 every year since 2011, all across the country to mark the foundation day of the Election Commission of India, i.e. 25th January 1950. The ECI is a Constitutional body that is responsible to conduct free and fair elections in India at all levels of the legislature.

The poll body says the main purpose of the NVD celebration is to encourage, facilitate and maximize enrolment, especially for the new voters.

“Dedicated to the voters of the country, the day is utilized to spread awareness among voters and for promoting informed participation in the electoral process. New voters are felicitated and handed over their Elector Photo Identity Card (EPIC) in the NVD functions,” according to the ECI.

National Voters’ Day 2021 theme

This year, the Election Commission will celebrate the 11th National Voters Day with the theme of ‘Making Our Voters Empowered, Vigilant, Safe and Informed’. The theme “envisages active and participative voters during elections. It also focuses on ECI’s commitment towards conducting elections safely during the COVID-19 pandemic”.

During the event on Monday, President Ram Nath Kovind will confer the National Awards for the year 2020-21 to “state and district level officers, who gave their outstanding performance in the conduct of elections in different spheres such as IT initiatives, security management, election management during Covid-19, accessible election and contribution in the field of voter awareness and outreach”.

He will also launch ECI’s Web Radio: ‘Hello Voters’, an online digital radio service which will stream voter awareness programmes. It will provide information and education on electoral processes through songs, drama, discussions, spots, stories of elections, etc. in Hindi, English and regional languages from all over the country.

Union Minister for Law and Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad will launch the e-EPIC programme and distribute e-EPICs and Elector Photo Identity Cards to five new voters. E-EPIC is a digital version of the Elector Photo Identity Card and it can be accessed through the Voter Helpline App and websites https://voterportal.eci.gov.in/ and https://www.nvsp.in/