Electing The Right Government

In my childhood, when I used to see my parents and grandmother going to a polling booth to caste their votes, I was not grown enough to understand the meaning of voting nor the need for voting. However, when I grew 18 and got my EPIC/voter card, I was excited that I am eligible to caste vote. 

                                 

Gradually, as I started meeting people with different experience, age, sex, city, I came to know to that election process and its value bring different perceptions to different kind of people.

Some personal observations:

• I want an EPIC card only as an address proof for my spouse as she is married to me and she does not have an address proof of her own.
• My name is not included in the voter ID list. So, why should I take pain to submit form 6 and get a voter ID. What do I get in return?
• I have a voter ID in a different location (my native) where I get a lot of free bees, why should I apply for a new card here and cancel the existing one?
• Whichever government I vote for, the response/development in our area would be the same in the next 5 years. So, why waste time in getting involved in the voting process?
• I had some other appointment on the same day, so, could not caste my vote.
• I am a female, I am not interested in politics. 

What are the advantages of voting?

The nation (or state) spends so many crores of rupees to complete one election process. Remember that it is taxpayers' money and if we don't vote, then we do not participate in forming the right democratic government. I have seen so many poor people in backward rural places standing in queues to caste their votes. Some time, I feel, educated people abstain themselves from casting their valuable votes and later crib that development is not shown by their political leaders in their areas. 

By going with a simple math, if in a constituency containing 10000 eligible voters, a particular area has 1000 eligible voters, thereby governing 10% of the total election weight-age. If another 1000 more voters in the same area register in next round of elections, then it boosts the percentage to 16% of the total election weight-age in that constituency. This means that would-be political leaders who file their nominations in the next election are well aware that 16% of the stake lies in this area. Therefore, it becomes a compulsion for these political leaders to provide development in this area. 

                                       

However, on the other side, if percentage of eligible voters increases, and if these voters do not caste their votes, then it reflects poorly on that area. The elected member will notice that the percentage of voter turn out is poor, and it is safe not to provide development works to this area. It is based on the assumption that his/her selection in the next round of election would not be governed by the voters in this particular area. This way, the development work gets focused in the areas where there is a larger voter turn out on the election day.

Is it a good idea to make voting mandatory?

If people do not understand the value of casting their vote, is it a good idea to make voting compulsory  One of the best examples is Australia where citizens are penalized for not voting.

Options are:

• The government may decide not to provide some facilities to those who do not caste their votes. 
• The government may decide not to provide subsidies to those who do not caste their votes.
• The government may impose fines on those who abstain from casting their votes.
• The government may link ration card/PAN cards/Aadhar cards, etc. with the acknowledgement number that the voter has caste his/her vote.
• The government may provide tax rebate if vote is caste.

There are so many ways the government can make voting compulsory. However, what about people who cannot go to a polling booth due an emergency, a sudden travel, out of the country and other genuine reasons. Some alternatives may include allowing voting by an e-mail, through the Internet or allowing voting on multiple days.

On the other hand, the question is whether forcing somebody to vote is depriving him/her from his/her liberty? 

Whether the government will make voting compulsory or not, nobody knows. However, spreading the awareness of the voting process and its advantages can influence/boost the voter turn-out percentage on the election day.

Some of them include:

• Carrying out procession/rallies by social workers in areas where there is a poor turn-out.
• Meeting representatives of apartments/houses
• Distributing pamphlets
• Social networking web sites like Facebook.
• Spreading awareness of candidates who are contesting the election.
• Spreading awareness about polling booths, their addresses.
• Helping voters to trace their part number and serial number in the voters' list.
• Car pooling to the polling booths.
• Individual apartment associations compiling a list of voters from their buildings and encouraging them to caste their votes.
• Parents convincing/insisting youngsters to caste their votes.
• Providing polling booths in colleges so that the younger generation utilizes this opportunity.

The government spends so much money on elections, let us make use of it. Let's vote. More than the right, it is our duty to caste our vote. I caste vote, do you?