PUNE: To increase the number of new voters, the Election Branch of the district administration department on Saturday held a meeting with heads of 165 colleges across the city to make them aware about enrollment of students who will be attaining 18 years of age before January first 2019. 

According to Deputy Election Officer Monika Singh, apart from making the college heads aware of the registration process of young voters, the administration department will provide facilities to colleges to increase the number of young voters. A meeting will be held every Tuesday in these colleges to spread awareness about voting procedure. “Colleges should have Electoral Literacy Clubs which can organise essay, drawing and other competitions to spread awareness,” added Singh. The department is expecting about 65,000 registrations. 

In a special registration drive carried out on Sunday, over 5,396 young voters registered themselves with the department. “We also organised a sign language training programme for election officers. People with special needs should not face any problem. These people are marked with flags in the voting list so that necessary facilities are provided to these people on the voting day,” added Singh.