Compulsory Voting- Right or Duty? | Sankalp India Foundation

I really liked the idea of making voting compulsory for residents of Gujarat recent elections to a local self-governing body. It indeed is one of the bravest moves taken by a state government in a long long time. Even states Himanchal Pradesh are willing it implement it. But a few questions will be asked like voting is a right and not a duty. Compulsory voting is against Article 14 & 19 of the Indian Constitution. One good thing about the bill is that it allows negative voting if the voter does not wish to vote for any of the listed contestants. This is a great way of protest if the voter is not for any of the contestants. Well… I think for a move like this, even the constitution can be amended.

Democracy has always been known to run on four wheels- choice, legitimacy, equality & participation. Compulsory voting is the only way to counter voting apathy and declining legitimacy in our country. Its a matter of shame that voter turnout amongst the poor has been usually much higher, than amongst the privileged. Compulsory voting is indeed a brave and good decision.

Now the question is how will it all be implemented? Like forcible vasectomies in the name of family planning or like submission of Income Tax with proper infrastructure in place. Well... We can only hope for the best.

Comments

It sounds good

The concept sounds good. Yet, somewhere deep down inside I cannot stop being cynical about the willpower of the governments to implement a thing like this.

I will be happy...

I will be one of the happiest person if compulsory voting happens...

Compulsory voting not feasible, says Chawla

NEW DELHI: Chief Election Commissioner Navin Chawla on Wednesday felt that it was not possible to make voting compulsory nationwide. It was for Parliament to debate and decide on the subject. “I have to preface this by saying that it is for Parliament to debate, discuss and enact. When that happens, we will see, he said.” Mr. Chawla was talking to journalists during an international symposium on ‘Sharing best electoral practices,’ organised here as part of the diamond jubilee celebrations of the Election Commission. The Commission believed in promoting voter education. The thrust was on voter education, awareness and bringing in the youth from the campuses. Mr. Chawla said: “The country has a large number of unorganised labourers. If a child falls sick, one cannot expect the mother to go out and vote. If the child is not well and what will the mother, an unorganised worker, do? Are we going to collect medical certificates? We have at the moment about 60 per cent of our population casting their votes.” Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi felt that compulsory voting was undemocratic. “Democracy and compulsion do not go hand-in-hand. Our stand is very clear: voter education is the key, and not compulsion.” Vladimir E. Churov, chairman of the Central Electoral Commission of the Russian Federation, said he was studying India’s electronic voting machines (EVMs) and distribution of elector photo identity cards for adoption in his country. Mr. Churov, who was here to attend the diamond jubilee celebrations, told journalists that EVMs were cheaper and simpler than the ballot papers or the touch screen and scanners that Russia experimented in the recent elections. “Russia does not have a voter identity card system. But countries such as India, France and Peru do. While in the Indian system, there is no way of recording the polling by a voter on his/her identity card, in other countries such facilities have been provided. We are studying them.” http://www.hindu.com/2010/01/28/stories/2010012860531000.htm

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