Neel was very excited because he had received an invitation for the National Voters' Day celebration, which is celebrated on January 25 every year. 

Khushi, his younger sister, asked, “Bhai, what’s the matter, why are you so excited?”

“I recently turned 18, so now I can vote when elections are held. See, I got a Voter Identity card also,” said Neel and showed her his card. "So, do you get more pocket money with that card?” she asked.

Neel laughed and said, “No, no. It is not a card that gives me money. I get to vote in the next elections by showing this card,” he explained.

Khushi was still unable to understand why Neel was so excited about this card. It really would not matter if he did not vote!

A few days later, Khushi’s class teacher, Ms Anita, announced that they would have elections for the position of the class monitor. Those who were interested would have to register their names by January 15.

Khushi wanted to become the class monitor and registered her name.

On January 15, Ms Anita announced that she had received two names for the position of the class monitor—Khushi and Dhavan.

She then showed and distributed a bunch of printed cards to the entire class.

“What are these cards, Ms Anita?”asked Dhavan. 

“I have prepared a card for every student in our class. It has their roll number and name written on it. Each card is signed by me so that no one can duplicate it. We will call it a ‘Voter ID card’. On the day of the election, everyone must carry their Voter IDs to school. We will be creating a polling booth in the auditorium hall and senior students will help us conduct the elections.” 

“Once you enter the polling booth, you will have to show your card to the person who is monitoring the polling booth. They will then give you a ballot paper for voting. This paper will contain the names of the two nominated students for the position of the class monitor.”

“Then you will have to tick mark the box in front of your preferred candidate and drop the ballot paper in the box kept at the polling booth. Anyone who is not carrying their Voter ID will not be allowed to vote.” Ms Anita explained the entire voting process.

Khushi had many friends in her class and because of her helpful nature, she knew most of her classmates. Though she was a favourite candidate to win the elections, she held meetings with different groups of students during the lunch break and urged them to vote for her. 

Dhavan too had a big group of friends, and even he started campaigning during free periods and lunch breaks, asking his classmates to vote for him. 

During each meeting, he spoke about the importance of the Voter ID and reminded all his classmates to carry theirs on the voting day, because without it they would not be allowed to cast their votes.

On the day of the election, the polling booth had been set up in the auditorium hall, and senior students were helping 

Ms Anita to conduct the elections. But a few students, despite the daily reminders, forgot to carry their Voter IDs and weren’t allowed to vote.

After everyone had cast their votes, the counting of votes was done by the senior students in the presence of Ms Anita.

Khushi and Dhavan were anxiously waiting for the results. Ms Anita finally announced, “Dhavan has won the class monitor election by 2 votes. Out of 45 students, 41 students cast their votes. The remaining 4 students were not allowed to cast their votes because they forgot their Voter IDs.”

Khushi was disappointed. She was disheartened even more when she learnt that three of her friends had not been allowed to vote because they had forgotten to carry their Voter IDs. She was certain that those three votes could have changed the election results.

Ms Anita explained, “Some students might have thought that their vote would not make much of a difference. So they weren’t serious about the Voter IDs and forgot to bring them to school. But all of you must have now realised that even a single vote can make a huge difference. That is why every year the Election Commission celebrates National Voters’ Day to increase the number of voters and create awareness about our voting rights. The newly enrolled voters are handed their Voter IDs on this day.”

All the students thanked Ms Anita for conducting such a fun and informative election. And they welcomed their newly elected class monitor—Dhavan, with a huge round of applause.

Khushi realised the importance of voting and was now able to understand Neel’s excitement on receiving his Voter ID.