Background

In 2024, only 40% of India’s 18-19-year-olds have registered to vote for the Lok Sabha Elections. In the 2019 elections, 153 million youth out of 210 million voted. These numbers call for a look into the issue of India’s low youth voter turnout. India’s youth are often unmotivated to participate in the democratic process for several reasons. Schools and colleges do not usually provide the proper encouragement to children and young adults on  the importance of participating in the electoral process. They are not aware of the impact of their decisions, especially when they vote for the first time. There is also a lack of awareness and knowledge about how a democracy runs and what it stands for.  This issue calls for the need for better education programs to introduce the topic of civic responsibility to young children and get them interested and engaged in the electoral process from a young age.

The youth can often view the idea of voting as a burden or chore instead of a privilege and responsibility.  To change this mindset, the youth must be reminded of the struggles of our forefathers and how they fought to gain the rights we enjoy as citizens of this country today. By exercising our right to vote, we honor these individuals and their struggles.

Another reason for the low voter turnout among youth is misinformation and assumptions. The youth of India have many misconceptions about voting and participating in the election process. Many believe that the voting process is extremely time-consuming, requires a lot of paperwork to be filled out, and is an administrative nightmare. These mistaken beliefs are spread among young generations, causing many young adults to avoid participating in the election process. Reliable and accessible information on the electoral process needs to be provided to these communities to illuminate how user-friendly the entire procedure is.