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The HC said that whenever the voter list is revised, a person of 18 years of age will be included and directed the electoral registration officer to take a decision within six weeks on the application of an 18-year-old woman seeking to be enrolled as a voter in Mumbai.
Rupika Singh, who turned 18 in April this year, had filed a petition in the high court claiming that her application to be enrolled as a voter was not accepted as the cut-off date in the state was October 1, 2024. Maharashtra Assembly elections were held in November 2024.
The schedule for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections to be held from March 2022 has not been announced yet.
Referring to a decision of the Supreme Court, the bench of Justices Riyaz Chagla and Farhan Dubash said that there is a difference between the freedom to vote and the right to vote.
“Once you turn 18, you have the freedom to vote,” the court said. But the right accrues only when the electoral list is revised by the authorities.” He said the petitioner was not eligible to vote till October 2024 when the electoral list was prepared.
The bench was also of the opinion that if every person starts filing applications as soon as he turns 18, the authorities will have to verify each application.
It says, “This will open many doors.” It says that whenever the voter list is amended, a person who has completed 18 years will also be included.
When the court suggested whether the concerned authority would consider her application, senior lawyer Ashutosh Kumbhakoni, appearing for the Election Commission of India and the Chief Electoral Officer of Maharashtra, agreed.
The bench accordingly directed the Electoral Registration Officer to consider Singh’s application within six weeks and disposed of his petition.
In her petition, Singh said that her fundamental right to vote is being violated and without including her name in the voter list, she will not be able to vote in the upcoming municipal elections.
Maharashtra’s Chief Electoral Officer had said earlier this week that the state will adopt the voter list prepared by October 2024 for the local body elections.
Kumbhakoni on Thursday said that since the voter list of the assembly elections will be adopted for the upcoming municipal elections, Singh will not be able to vote this year.
He said that the voter list is revised before every parliamentary or assembly election.
After turning 18 in April this year, Singh attempted to apply through the Election Commission of India portal to enroll herself as a voter.
However, she could not submit her application as there was no option to choose her date of birth for Maharashtra citizens who turned 18 on or after October 2, 2024.
His petition states that Singh then tried to submit his application offline, but that too was not accepted.
They later learned that July 1, 2025, had been notified as the nomination cut-off date for the local body elections, which meant that only those young citizens whose names are included in the voters’ list by July 1, 2025, would be allowed to vote.
Singh claimed that non-acceptance of his application had resulted in “violation of his freedom of expression in the form of casting his vote”.