New Delhi: The Election Commission on Saturday
said it has made no recommendation to the government to lower
the voting age to 16.
"No such proposal has been made by the Election
Commission to the government. There is no recommendation to
this type by the Commission or the Chief Election
Commissioner, the EC said in a press release.
Referring to reports, it said that an "erroneous
impression" has been created in this regard.
CEC S Y Quraishi was responding to a student's suggestion
at a recent academic forum in Bhubaneshwar that the voting age
should be reduced to 16 in view of the fact that the youth in
the country was maturing early progressively, it said.
The CEC maintained that the EC was currently focusing on
ensuring fullest participation of the newly eligible
18-year-olds in the electoral process.
"EC has the duty to bring all eligible citizens of the
country on the electoral roll. The Commissioin finds it
particularly challenging that the newly eligible voters in the
18-19 age group do not register. The enrolment in this age
group in some areas is as low as 20 per cent", the release
said.
PTI
First Published: Saturday, January 15, 2011, 18:31