[Assam] Of Compulsory Voting

[Dilip/Dil Deka]

Published in the Sentinel. 
  Does India need more unenforceable laws? The article analyzes the flaws well.
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  Of Compulsory Voting 
ND Sharma 
Congress member V Narayanasamy introduced in the Rajya Sabha on August 24 a private member’s Bill seeking enactment of a law to make voting in elections compulsory in India. He argues that Australia, Belgium, Argentina, Greece, Mexico, Singapore, Switzerland, Brazil and a host of other countries have compulsory voting laws. In Bolivia if a person does not vote, his three months’ salary is withdrawn as a punitive measure, according to him.
Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami had also some time back favoured a law to make voting compulsory in India. Participating in a panel discussion after the last Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, he had expressed anguish at the voters’ apathy and pointed out that there were as many as 33 countries in the world where compulsory voting was in place.
Laudable though the idea is, it is highly unlikely that it can be effectively translated into practice in India with its huge population and over 85 crore of its inhabitants eligible to vote. With all the resources of the Central and State governments at the disposal of the Election Commission, this august body has never been, so far, able to enlist all the eligible voters or ensure that some of the voters do not figure in more than one list. In spite of its painstaking exercise before every election, the Election Commission has had to cope with numerous complaints at the time of polling.
It is only wishful thinking that having an Act for compulsory voting will miraculously change the things. If such a law is enacted, where shall we get the massive manpower to ensure enrolment of all eligible voters, keep their track at the time of voting and prepare and send summons to those who fail to turn up at the polling booths? It will also mean further clogging of the courts — already burdened under the monumental backlogs?
Perhaps a more realistic approach to the problem will be to link enrolment as a voter with incentives and disincentives. Today being (or non-being) a voter virtually amounts to nothing, unless one has an inclination to contest an election or is keen to support a particular party or candidate. The voting right of Shiv Sena Supremo Bal Tahckeray was suspended by the court as punishment for his inflammatory speeches/writings. How did it affect him or his activities in any way?
If enlistment as a voter is made necessary for, say, procuring a passport, getting a ration card, buying or selling a property, opening a bank account, applying for a job, getting one’s children admitted to a school or college and such other things, it will diametrically change the attitude of the people. Now the government employees assigned by the Election Commission to update the voters’ lists rarely receive a courteous reception when they visit the households. Sometimes they are even treated in a cavalier manner by the people.
However, this will all change if being a voter is linked with incentives and disincentives. Then it will be the individuals who will take the trouble to see that they are enlisted as voters. Once they take the trouble to ensure that their names are on the voters list, it will affect them psychologically and it is likely to shed at least part of their “apathy” at the time of polling, of which N Gopalaswami has complained.
However, this alone is not enough to enthuse the voters to go to polling booths and cast their votes. The faulty election laws and the reluctance of the authorities to effectively enforce even those laws, permitting thugs and cheats and swindlers to enter Parliament or Assemblies, have made the average voter in the country highly cynical. 
(Manuj Features)
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