NASHIK: A special voter ID registration campaign was organised at the District Collectorate by the district election branch on April 1 to commemorate the International Transgender Day of Visibility. A total of 51 third genders registered themselves at the drive. Till December, only 29 third gender voters were registered in the district. However, 51 registered themselves at the recently held special drive. Out of the 80 third gender registered voters, 50 of them got their voter ID cards.
The registration camp was organised at Mahsul Karmachari Sanghatana Hall within District Collectorate’s premises. Deputy Collector and Deputy District Election Officer Swati Thavil had appealed to all social organisations in the district to cooperate in this campaign, and maximum number of third genders should register themselves. The drive focused on registering all the third genders of the district and ensuring no eligible voter gets deprived of their rights. The officials even distributed registration forms to Guru Maas to ensure every eligible voter gets registered in the drive.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has proposed revised rules for third genders’ registration, given the shortage of documents required for voter registration. According to their guidelines, third genders in the 18 to 21 age group who don’t have any age proof can submit the certificate issued to them by their Guru Maa as age proof.
The person above 21 years of age should produce a self-attested certificate to confirm their age. Any mail received at the third gender’s current address shall be considered as address proof. As per the revised rules, many third genders have been registered across the state under the special brief revision programme held in November 2021.
