The National Voters’ Day is celebrated every year to mark the foundation day of the Election Commission of India, which was established on 25th January, 1950. The purpose of celebrating this day is to increase enrolment of voters, especially young voters. The day is also utilized to spread awareness among voters regarding effective participation in the electoral process.

The theme for the 7th National Voters’ Day, celebrated on the 25th January 2017, was ‘Empowering Young and Future Voters.’ The National Celebration at Delhi was graced by the honourable President of India, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, as the chief guest. The event witnessed enthusiastic participation of students from all over the country who hadactively participated in ‘All India Drawing Competition’ on the theme 'Every Vote Counts.’ The President appreciated the creative artwork of the prize winning entries from all the states of India. The welcome address was given by Election Commissioner Shri O.P. Rawat.

The first copy of the book 'Unfolding Indian Elections-Journey of the living democracy’ was presented to the President by Chief Election Commissioner of India, Dr. Nasim Zaidi. The book, compiled by the Election Commission of India, is published by the Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and traces the journey of evolution of election process from the pre independence era to the present

Election Commissioner Shri A.K. Joti introduced the National Awards which are presented for excellence in various aspects of conduct of elections i.e. electoral roll management, security management, IT initiatives, voter education and electoral participation and innovation. Awards were also given away to partner departments, CSO and Media for their contribution to election management. The awards were given away by the President. EPIC card was given to the fivenewly registered voters and the six winners of the All India Drawing Competition.

The President, in his address, congratulated the Election Commission of India for achieving high standards in the conduct of election which are world renowned. He also expressed his happiness on the fact that the Election Commission in India has been able to inculcate in the youth the motivation to vote and exhorted the Commission to maintain its standards of non-partisanship.

Earlier, the Chief Election Commissioner of India, apprised the guests about the various initiatives taken up by the Commission in the past one year including the ‘Interactive School Engagement’ programme in which Electoral Registration Officers and District Election Officers besides the Chief Electoral Officers covered around 11,000 schools and 24 lac students across the country and interacted with the students in the age-group of 15-17 years to impart electoral awareness among them.

Shri Umesh Sinha, Deputy Election Commissioner gave the vote of thanks. Election management Bodies from 11 countries attended the function besides representatives of various international organisations, Political Parties, former Chief Election Commissioners of India besides officials from Embassies and Govt Organisations.