Ranchi: Election Commission’s voter awareness campaign reached 13,350 students across 20 educational institutions in Ranchi in Aug, as officials intensified efforts to enrol first-time voters.The camps, held from Aug 8 to 27, targeted students who will turn 18 by Oct 1 this year, the qualifying date for voter registration under the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR). Officials said the initiative was aimed at ensuring that no eligible young citizen is left out of the rolls ahead of voting for the first time.During the outreach, nearly 5,000 students downloaded the ECINET app, accounting for 37.45% of all students covered. The students were encouraged to use the app to complete and submit Form 6, which is required for the inclusion of new voters in the electoral rolls.Around 1,500 Form 6 applications have been submitted online so far, while another 500 have been filed offline. Aditya Kumar Jha, help desk manager at the chief electoral officer’s (CEO) office in Ranchi, said the applications were being processed.The commission will continue the programme and follow up with students who downloaded the app but are yet to submit their enrolment forms. Feedback will also be sought from participants to assess the campaign’s impact and identify hurdles preventing eligible youngsters from completing the registration process.The district-level drive is being monitored by nodal officers, including Jha, who are coordinating outreach and follow-up efforts.State’s chief electoral officer (CEO) K Ravi Kumar on Sunday directed all district election officers (DEOs) to intensify efforts to enrol new and young voters under SIR.The direction followed a polling station-wise review of Form 6 applications, which showed that 6,722 booths across the state had not received a single application. Kumar said applications from newly eligible voters were being accepted both online and offline following the publication of the draft electoral roll on Aug 5.“With Oct 1, 2026, as the qualifying date, officials must ensure the registration of every eligible Indian citizen who has turned or will turn 18 by then,” he said. The deadline for submitting applications under SIR is Sept 15.
