Mumbai: Civic polls near, more than 5 lakh youth are now voters

Is Gen Y realising the power of its vote, and exercising it?
Of the 23 lakh voters who registered ahead of the municipal corporation polls in February, from November 1 to 30, 80% are aged between 18 and 25. Nearly 5.84 lakh youngsters from Mumbai and Thane registered in electoral roll.

The state election branch expedited the enrolment drive post the 2009 assembly election, which resulted in 1.18 lakh from Mumbai and suburbs, and 1.63 lakh from Thane district registering till October-end. The final phase saw 3.84 lakh voters from Mumbai and suburbs, and 2 lakh from Thane district.

“Those who will turn 18 on January 1, 2012, have been incorporated in the new list that will be announced by January 5,” said an officer.

As per the 2011 census, island city, with a population of 31.45 lakh, saw 27.45 lakh registering as voters. Of the 93.32 lakh in the suburbs, 72.92 lakh registered, while Thane district, with a population of 1.10 crore, saw 68.66 lakh register.

“We had two choices — conduct the election with the voter list finalised by October-end or announce a new list on January 5 and allow new voters to register. We opted for the latter,” said state election commissioner Neela Satyanarayan.