Election schedule has been announced starting from April 11. Reportedly, Over 1.5 crore electors in 18-19 year age group will be eligible to vote for the first time. Prime Minister Narendra Modi called upon them to vote in record numbers.
He tweeted:
The festival of democracy, Elections are here. I urge my fellow Indians to enrich the 2019 Lok Sabha elections with their active participation. I hope these election witnesses a historic turnout. I particularly call upon first-time voters to vote in record numbers.
The voters in the age group of 18-19 years constitute 1.66% of the total electorate. It includes the citizens who turned 18 on January 1 this year and registered as electors.
The Election Commission on Sunday issued a statement saying:
“The total electorate in the country as per finally published e-rolls in January 2019 is approximately 900 million compared to 814.5 million in 2014. This marks an increase of more than 84 million electors. Over 15 million electors are in 18-19 years age group. Electors in the age group of 18 to 19 years constitute 1.66% of total electors”
The Election Commission had allowed enrolment of transgender persons with gender written as "Others" in the electoral rolls since 2012. The number of electors enrolled as "others" gender is reportedly 38,325.
The poll panel said that parliament has amended the Representation of the People Act, 1950, allowing NRIs to vote.
Elections will be held in 1,035,918 polling stations across the nation compared to 928,000 set up in 2014 elections