SHWETA KAMAT
shweta@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: All political parties have set their sights on one segment of the electorate- the first-time voters. The total number of first-time voters is of 13,386. They are between the age group of 18-19 years and comprise of 1.17 percent of the total electorates in the State. However, it accounts for only 1.90 percent of the total State population under the said age-group.
As per final publication of the electoral roll on April 4, there are total 11, 35,811 eligible voters which include 5,55,768 male voters and 5,80,043 are female voters. State will go for polls on April 23 for two Parliamentary seats and three assembly constituencies. Also, Panjimites will vote again on May 19 to elect late Manohar Parrikar’s successor.
The first-time voters can make the difference in making or breaking political parties’ electoral destinies, even though the sizeable number is less. However, the youth need to show up and vote to make their voice count so as to have a strong impact on the forthcoming election results. The constituency-wise trend shows that the first-time voter registration is between 100 and 500, which is quite a good number.
The figures show that as per the projected census population in the said age cohort, there are total 23,630 people, which is almost 2.83 percent of the total State population. However, only 13,386 have registered themselves as voters.
“13,000 votes is not a small thing. These first-time voters can be the deciding factor for candidates and hence it is important that we does not ignore them,” a political expert said, while further adding, ‘despite high enrollment, many times, we don’t see young voters coming out to vote’.
This was one of the reasons, why the State Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) had introduced a unique initiative during 2017 State Assembly elections, wherein the first-time women voters, were greeted with pinky teddy bear, upon casting the votes. However, this time, no such initiative has been planned.
“No decision yet is been taken in this regard. But we are hopeful that first-time voters will come out in large number and exercise their rights,” Additional CEO Narayan Sawant said.
Anvesha Rawal, 18 years, is excited to vote but at the same time sounds confused whether her vote will go to a right candidate. “I will be voting for North parliamentary constituency and also for one of the By-elections. Though I am excited, I wonder whether my vote will go for right candidate. For me, winning is not important but I want to ensure that my vote goes to a deserving candidate,” she said.
Canacona assembly constituency has registered highest number of first-time voters-483, followed by Poriem- 470, Sanvordem- 459 and Mandrem- 443. The Mormugao constituency has the least number of these voters- 149, below Calangute- 164.
Apart from first-time voters, there is sizable chunk of young voters in the age group of between 20-29 years. Over two lakh of voters fall under this category.
What is interesting is that there are over 24,300 voters who are 80 years and above. Political parties also find this section of the electorate – old voters appealing.
