Mumbai : Low voter turnout
The People of Mumbai were angry at the very unprofessional handling of the recent terror attack by the Indian government. It was expected that in this election people will come out in huge numbers and vote for a stable government.
But it seems the JOSH has already been lost. So what is the reason why voter turnout was so low?
- Many people found their names missing from the voters list, surprisingly even Karkare’s widow name wasn’t even on the voting list.
- It is indeed strange that names of even those people have been struck off the list, who have voted many times before. There is an urgent need for Investigative journalist and EC themselves should investigate whether there is a pattern of deliberate striking of names off the list, to benefit any particular political party. This is very important for survival of democratic system in this country, and for people to have faith in the system.
- Voting machine malfunctions were reported in some places in Mumbai and voters were told to come back later in an hour. Though this needs a thorough investigation as to why backup systems were not installed, but the question here is why did some of the people never came back. Voting machine were not working cannot be used as an excuse by the Indian citizen; they need to come back again and again until they vote, but who cares. People should understand that the independence we enjoy today is hard earned and after a lot of sacrifices.
- Last but not the least hot weather, holiday season, working etc.. are all common excuse for not voting.
So should voting be made compulsory?
Most will disagree with this saying “We are a democracy where the right to vote or not to vote should rest with the citizen”. But they fail to understand that democracy is for the people and by the people, if the people don’t turn out to vote what is the use of democracy. What is the use of democracy when not even half the people show interest. So either you force dictatorship or implement democracy by forcing people to vote.
Making voting compulsory will be an added advantage as it will automatically take care of the loose ends that happen during the elections. For example voters name missing in the voters list, voting machine malfunctions and so on, with voting compulsory the government will have to ensure the records are genuine and up-to-date, the government cannot simply force a voter to vote when the government records itself are not well synchronized.
Indian needs Compulsory voting with "none of the above" option.
If the turnout is low, there should be compulsory voting, this is to save democracy. Or better scrap off democracy and have a dictator ruling as we Indian deserve to have one.
If you think no country in this world follows compulsory voting here is the list
Countries that enforce compulsory voting:
* Argentina (compulsory for citizens between 18 and 70 years old, non-compulsory for those older than 70)
* Australia (compulsory enrollment and voting for local, state*, and national elections for all adults over 18).
* Belgium
* Brazil (non-compulsory for citizens between 16 and 18 years old and those older than 70)
* Chile (enrollment voluntary)
* Cyprus
* Democratic Republic of the Congo
* Ecuador (compulsory for citizens between 18 and 65 years old, non-compulsory for illiterate people and those older than 65)
* Fiji
* Liechtenstein
* Nauru
* Peru (compulsory for citizens between 18 and 70 years old, non-compulsory for those older than 70)
* Singapore
* Switzerland (compulsory in the Canton of Schaffhausen only)
* Turkey
* Uruguay
*In South Australia it is not compulsory to enroll for state elections. Nevertheless, as the enrollment form is a combined Federal/State one, with no provision to not enrol for the State, it is in effect compulsory.
