No recommendation by EC to lower voting age to 16

New Delhi, Jan 15 (PTI) The Election Commission todaysaid it has made no recommendation to the government to lowerthe voting age to 16.

"No such proposal has been made by the ElectionCommission to the government. There is no recommendation tothis type by the Commission or the Chief ElectionCommissioner, the EC said in a press release.

Referring to reports, it said that an "erroneousimpression" has been created in this regard.

CEC S Y Quraishi was responding to a student''s suggestionat a recent academic forum in Bhubaneshwar that the voting ageshould be reduced to 16 in view of the fact that the youth inthe country was maturing early progressively, it said.

The CEC maintained that the EC was currently focusing onensuring fullest participation of the newly eligible18-year-olds in the electoral process.

"EC has the duty to bring all eligible citizens of thecountry on the electoral roll. The Commissioin finds itparticularly challenging that the newly eligible voters in the18-19 age group do not register. The enrolment in this agegroup in some areas is as low as 20 per cent", the releasesaid.