India observes National Voters' Day on January 25 each year. It celebrates democracy and empowers every citizen to take part in the electoral process. The day marks the foundation of the Election Commission of India (ECI), which was established on January 25, 1950, under Article 324 of the Indian Constitution.

The ECI is a pivotal constitutional authority responsible for the control, supervision, and conduct of elections in the world’s largest democracy. It has conducted 18 general elections and over 400 State Legislative Assembly elections till date. The Commission also oversees elections to the Rajya Sabha, State Legislative Councils (wherever they exist), the Union Territories of Puducherry and the National Capital Territory of Delhi, as well as the esteemed offices of the President and Vice President of India. It is a multi-member body comprising the Chief Election Commissioner and two other Election Commissioners.

The theme for National Voters' Day 2026 is "My India, My Vote" with a tagline of Citizen at the Heart of Indian Democracy. It symbolizes the efforts of ECI to design citizen centric electoral processes. The Commission keeps the convenience of citizens in mind. It encourages their participation in the electoral processes.

The main event of NVD is held in New Delhi. The President of India addresses the event. The President gives Electors’ Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) to a group of newly enrolled young voters and honors electoral officers for their phenomenal work. These awards recognize their distinguished contribution to electoral management. Civil service organizations are also honored for their work.

Voters' participation in the democratic and electoral processes is integral to the successful running of any democracy. It is the very basis of wholesome democratic elections.

In India, ECI ensures that every eligible Indian is on the Electoral Roll. It must also work to get everyone on the roll to voluntarily vote. NVD helps fulfil this constitutional responsibility. It creates awareness about voter registration and participation. The day encourages eligible citizens to enrol themselves and exercise their democratic right to vote. The day is dedicated to all voters of the nation. Enrolment of new voters is a key focus of this celebration. Across India, new voters are honoured on this day.

NVD is being celebrated across the country at around 11 lakh polling booths, at district level by District Election Officers (DEO) and at State level by Chiel Electoral Officers (CEO). The Booth Level Officers (BLOs) organize event at each polling station area and felicitate newly registered voters.

 In order to reach out to the masses, the Election Commission of India (ECI) initiated the practice of celebrating National Voters’ Day (NVD) on its Foundation Day, i.e., 25 January, in 2011. It is celebrated with great enthusiasm across the country, accompanied by a series of outreach measures such as symposia, cycle rallies, human chains, folk art programmes, mini-marathons, competitions, and awareness seminars. Most of these activities target young people to build awareness about voting and democracy.

The Election Commission of India organizes several activities for National Voters' Day celebrations.

National Electoral Awards given on NVD 2026

A structured awards programme forms an essential part of NVD, celebrating excellence in electoral management and voter outreach. These awards are presented at both National and State levels during the NVD ceremonies. This year, the awards will recognize the Best Election Districts.

The Best Election District Awards in 2026 will honour achievements under the following themes:

1. Innovative Voter Awareness Initiatives: Recognizing creative voter education programs, awareness campaigns, and outreach activities that engage and empower citizens.
2. Effective Use of Technology in Elections: Celebrating the use of technology to enhance the efficiency, transparency, and accuracy of election processes.
3. Training and Capacity Building: Honouring well-designed training programs and comprehensive assessment of election officials.
4. Election Management and Logistics: Acknowledging best practices in managing election logistics, including polling stations, voting materials, and personnel deployment.
5. Model Code of Conduct Implementation and Enforcement: Recognizing effective strategies for implementing and upholding the Model Code of Conduct, ensuring fair and transparent elections.
6. Media Awards: Celebrating outstanding campaigns in voter education across diverse media platforms, including Print, TV, Radio, and online/social media.

Launches on NVD 2026

NVD also serves as a platform for the launch of the following in the august presence of the Hon'ble President of India:

1. Voter Awareness campaigns, or outreach initiatives.
2. Institutional publications, reports, or Knowledge products.
3. Audio-Visual material highlighting democratic processes, voter participation, and electoral innovation.
4. Launch of publication highlighting ECI’s achievements.
5. Launch of publication about successful conduct of General Elections in Bihar.
6. 
   Launch of Video reflecting the ECI’s global leadership in electoral management and democratic development.

Activities in Educational institutions

All schools and educational institutions are encouraged to organize special activities. These include debates, discussions, and various competitions. Students can take part in drawing, skits, songs, painting, and essay writing. These activities inspire young minds to become responsible voters.

These activities are aligned with the Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) programme to promote informed and inclusive electoral participation.

SVEEP is the flagship program of the Election Commission of India. It focuses on voter education, awareness, and literacy across the country. The program started in 2009. Since then, it has been preparing India's voters with basic knowledge about the electoral process.

India’s electoral system has undergone continuous transformation through a series of institutional, technological, and voter-centric reforms. These are aimed at strengthening democratic participation and electoral integrity.

Other Key Initiatives

Several other initiatives have also further strengthened the efficiency, inclusiveness, and transparency of the electoral process.

Polling Station Management

Mobile Deposit Facility at Polling Stations: Mobile phone deposit counters placed outside polling stations to ensure compliance and smooth polling.

Polling Station Limit of 1,200 Voters: Maximum voters per polling station capped at 1,200 to reduce crowding and ensure shorter queues. Additional booths placed in high-rise residential complexes and societies.

100% Webcasting at Polling Stations: Webcasting ensured at all polling stations to monitor critical poll-day activities. It also assured activities to take place without any violation.

Voter Services & Information

Clearer Voter Information Slip (VIS): VIS redesigned with clearly visible serial and part numbers for easier voter verification.

Fast Delivery of EPIC: New SOP ensures EPIC delivery within 15 days of an update in Electoral Rolls. It is also accompanied by SMS updates at every stage.

Electoral Roll Management

Special Intensive Revision in Bihar: Focused revision conducted to remove ineligible names and include all eligible voters.

Obtaining Data of Death Registration: Electronic sharing of death registration data enabled for electoral roll updates.

Special Summary Revision (SSR) before Bye-Elections: Special Summary Revision conducted before bye-elections for the first time in nearly 20 years.

Technology & Digital Systems

Digitisation & Resource Optimisation at ECI HQ: e-Office, biometric attendance, and relocation to IIIDEM (India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management) for efficiency.

Digital Index Cards & Reports: Returning Officers enabled to release index cards digitally within 72 hours of result declaration.

Training & Capacity Building

Training of Booth Level Agents (BLAs): BLAs trained on electoral roll preparation and appeal provisions under RP Act, 1950.

Training of Booth Level Officers (BLOs) at India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM): Over 7,000 BLOs and supervisors from across India including Bihar trained at IIIDEM to strengthen field-level capacity.

Training of Police Officers: Special training sessions conducted for police to ensure election-time law and order.

Training for Nodal Communication Officers: Media and communication officers from all States/UTs trained for effective outreach.

Election Staff & Officials

Photo ID Cards for Booth Level Officers (BLOs): Standard photo identity cards issued to BLOs to improve transparency and public confidence.

Counting Process

Streamlining Counting of Postal Ballots: Postal ballots counted before the penultimate round of EVM/VVPAT counting.

Stakeholder Engagement

All-party Meetings Nationwide: Regular meetings held by Chief Electoral Officers (CEO), District Election Officers (DEO), and Electoral Registration Officers (ERO) to engage political parties. A total of 4,719 all-party meetings were conducted. It included 40 meetings by CEOs, 800 by District Election Officers (DEOs), and 3879 by Electoral Registration Offices (EROs).

ECI Meetings with Party Leadership: Continuous dialogue maintained with national and state party leadership. 25 such meetings have been held so far.

Political Party Regulation

Delisting of Registered Unrecognised Political Parties (RUPP): Delisting of 808 Registered Unrecognised Political Parties in two rounds. These parties failed to meet the essential conditions for registration.

Legal & Institutional Framework

Re-orient ECI Legal Framework: National conference with Legal Counsels & CEOs to strengthen and re-orient ECI's legal framework.

International Cooperation

Bilateral engagements held with Election Management Bodies of other countries. A landmark event in this regard was the India International Conference on Democracy and Election Management (IICDEM) 2026, held from January 21-23, 2026, in New Delhi. The conference brought together representatives from over 40 Election Management Bodies (EMBs) across the globe. It concluded with the unanimous adoption of the Delhi Declaration 2026 on January 23, 2026.

The Declaration establishes Five Pillars for strengthening global democratic electoral processes through cooperation and innovation:

• Pillar I: Purity of Electoral Rolls – It recognized pure electoral rolls as the foundation of democracy. EMBs would strive to issue photo identity cards to all eligible electors for transparent elections.
• Pillar II: Conduct of Elections - Ensuring participative, inclusive, transparent, efficient, free, and fair elections, with EMBs operating in line with constitutional or legal mandates and involving all stakeholders.
• Pillar III: Research and Publications - Committing to produce an Encyclopaedia of Democracies, including an Atlas of global electoral systems (approved by respective EMBs). Along with elaborative reports on 7 themes led by International IDEA and 36 themes led by India's IIIDEM.
• Pillar IV: Use of Technology - Adopting advanced technologies to uphold electoral integrity, facilitate voters, and counter misinformation. India is offering to share its ECINET digital platform for co-development of a similar platform for any other EMB, adapted to their laws and languages.
• Pillar V: Training and Capacity Building - IIIDEM, the world's largest election training institute, has trained over 10,000 Indian staff and personnel from more than 100 countries over 15 years. Leveraging this extensive experience, India offers training facilities and exchange of best practices to EMBs worldwide.

Participating nations resolved to operationalize these pillars via measurable actions, collaboration, and annual progress reviews, with the next meeting scheduled for December 3-5, 2026, at IIIDEM in New Delhi. This landmark declaration highlights India's leadership in advancing electoral integrity and global democratic standards.

India's Chairship of International IDEA 2026

India has assumed the Chairship of the Council of Member States of International IDEA for 2026, led by the Chief Election Commissioner of India. Under this leadership, India aims to promote democratic innovation, strengthen global partnerships, and advance inclusive, peaceful, resilient, and sustainable democratic systems worldwide. India's vast electoral experience and strong democratic institutions position it uniquely to lead International IDEA in 2026. The Chairship is anchored in the theme "Democracy for an inclusive, peaceful, resilient and sustainable world," guided by two core pillars:

• Reimagining Democracy for the Future (focusing on AI, diversity, sustainability, SDGs, and future-ready systems)
• Strong, Independent & Professional EMBs (emphasizing technology, risk management, voter education, reforms, and capacity building).

India will host high-impact activities including EMB Leaders Summits, policy dialogues, expert workshops, joint research, knowledge products, and capacity-building initiatives through IIIDEM and International IDEA to build a lasting global legacy of democratic excellence.

National Voters' Day stands as a testament to India's commitment to democratic values and inclusive governance. Since its inception in 2011, this annual celebration has evolved into one of the country's most widespread civic events, touching every corner of the nation. The theme for 2026, reinforces the message that every vote counts and every citizen have a vital role to its constitutional mandate of ensuring no voter is left behind. With growing electoral participation, increasing women voter enrolment, and expanding infrastructure, India's democratic journey continues to inspire the world.

References

Election Commission of India

• https://www.eci.gov.in/voicenet/ArticleDECUS.htm\

Vikaspedia

• https://socialwelfare.vikaspedia.in/viewcontent/social-welfare/community-power/elections-in-india/national-voters%E2%80%99-day?lgn=en

Press Information Bureau

• https://static.pib.gov.in/WriteReadData/specificdocs/documents/2022/jan/doc20221258801.pdf
• https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2095170&reg=3&lang=2
• https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2088064&reg=3&lang=2

My Bharat Gov

• https://mybharat.gov.in/pages/event_detail?event_name=NATIONAL-VOTERS%E2%80%99+DAY+2026&key=796147676796
• https://elections.tn.gov.in/ta/SIR2026/FAQ_English.pdf

Others:

• File:///C:/Users/upadh/Downloads/NVD%20Celebration%20letter.pdf
• https://iiidem.eci.gov.in/india-chairs-international-idea

Click here for pdf file.

*****

PIB Research

(रिलीज़ आईडी: 2218351) आगंतुक पटल : 7158