‘No one seems to care about vote needing to move with voter’

When he turned 18 in April last year, one of the things Aumkar Shah began to look forward to was voting for the first time in the general elections in 2019. But as the elections draw near, his excitement is fast melting away.
That is because the teenager, who hails from Goa, has now moved to Delhi after he qualified for a seat at the prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), placing 28th in the entrance test, the highest rank in recent times for anybody from his state.But he realises that his academic schedule may come in the way of him casting his first vote.
“I should not have to travel all the way back to Goa just to vote. Apart from the time, it also costs quite a lot to travel to Goa and back. Given the technology that’s there these days, it should have be easier just to move votes when the voter shifts base,” Shah said. He is resigned to the fact that he may be able to cast his first vote only in the Goa assembly polls in 2022.
Shah also speaks about the need for creating more awareness among young and firsttime voters about voting.
“The authorities should give some orientation to those turning 18 about their right to vote. This can be done by targeting students in higher secondary schools. You should feel empowered that you have the right to vote. The government should be interested in getting new voters to enrol and vote. At present, we turn 18 and then have to find a way to deal with the entire enrolment and voting process all by ourselves,” adds Shah.
“Nobody seems to even care to address the issue of why the vote is not moved along with the voter.
This is allowed in the case of Army personnel, so why not for the others?” Shah wonders. Hoping for a quick solution, he says he knows a number of students his age who have not even bothered to enrol as voters because of the tedious process involved.