AIZAWL:
Along with the rest of the country, the National Voters’ Day (NVD) was observed in Mizoram with much fanfare and special programmes were held across all the district headquarters, on January 25.
The event at the state capital Aizawl was graced by the chief secretary Renu Sharma. Stating that free and fair elections are the bedrock of democracy, Sharma, keeping in line with this year’s NVD – Making Elections Inclusive, Accessible and Participative, called upon voters to strengthen the country’s democratic tradition.
Highlighting Mizoram’s track record of holding free and fair elections down the years and the contribution of civil society organisations in ensuring peaceful and transparent elections, she said, “This is something we must all take pride in and congratulate ourselves.”
She also added that one of the most important ways individuals can influence government-making is by participating wholeheartedly in the electoral process.
In the programme, the chief secretary handed out EPICs to 10 newly enrolled voters along with appreciation certificates to three best booth level officers (BLOs).
Chief electoral officer (CEO) P Jawahar, in his welcome address, highlighted the various activities undertaken by the state Election Commission to make new voters aware of the importance of exercising one’s franchise. The NVD pledge was taken by all the attendees.
According to according to the new electoral roll published on January 15, there are 8,33,426 voters in the state. Of these, 4,28,459 are female voters, while 4,04,967 are males. As per the roll, there are no third gender category voters, as per the roll.
The number of voters increased by 17,288 from the final roll published in January last year. Aizawl district, with 12 assembly constituencies, has the highest number of voters at 2,76,155, followed by Lunglei district, with 97,303 voters. While there are six assembly constituencies in Lunglei district in the southern part of the state, Hnahthial district, which was created in 2019, has the least number of voters at 15,730. There is only one assembly constituency in Hnahthial.
While West Mizoram’s Mamit district has 709,861 voters, Kolasib, Champhai, Dhas, Siaha, Saitual, and Khawzawl have 62,610, 55,357, 52,952, 87,608, 43,015, 54,585, and 17,250 voters, respectively.
In total, there are 40 assembly constituencies in Mizoram and 12,47 polling stations.