Should Voting In India Be Mandatory And Why

Voting is not just a right, it is also a responsibility. People who vote during the elections in India represent just a percentage of the total population.So should voting in India be mandatory or not?

Voting should be made compulsory so that the leaders who are elected deserve to lead the nation. India needs to become more politically literate. Giving people the right to vote is not enough.

You need to make voting mandatory as this ensures that people learn about their position with respect to issues such as social change, empowerment, financial policies and other aspects that are of critical importance for national growth and development.

• Indian voters need to become more involved in the electoral process. Currently, there are gaps between the urban and rural areas of India when it comes to critical issues such as growth and development. Encouraging Indians to vote is not enough. Electoral politics has become rampant because only a cross section of the population bothers to vote. This can change if voting is made compulsory.

• Australia is one of 10 countries across the globe which mandates that voting is compulsory. It is doing well on the economic front. Countries like the island nation of Singapore are forging ahead because all its citizens are mandated by law to cast their votes.

If India wants to rival the growth and development of such countries, the legislators and the bureaucrats must summon the courage to initiate processes for making voting mandatory.

• In a number of countries where casting a vote is option, researchers have found that voter turnout does not reach a healthy percentage. Low voter turnout can often tip the scales and cause unworthy candidates to secure a victory.

If a citizen is satisfied with the performance of a particular political party, he or she should vote for it rather than abstaining from the process simply because of laziness or apathy.

• Voter apathy has become a big problem in many parts of India. Local and central governments are spending huge amount of money and resources to create campaigns that encourage people to vote. This expenditure can be eliminated if voting were to be made compulsory.

• Compulsory voting came about in several nations as a response to poor voter turnout. This has remedied the situation for these nations to a large extent. Consider the following facts. Australia has reported more than 90% voter turnout for each election since the year that voting was made compulsory for all its citizens.

• Compulsory voting is all about people making the state accountable for all its actions. If the while nation is made to vote at the polls, problems such as vote capturing and criminalization of politics would be eliminated.

There are a huge number of initiatives that the local and central governments can take to make the process easy. Postal voting procedures, online voting methods, week-end voting processes as well as automated electoral enrolment are ideal for handling the huge volume of voters.

Not having enough time to vote is cited as one of the most common excuses cited by those who do not bother going to the polls. If Indian voters are encouraged to exercise their right to vote, strength in numbers can eliminate electoral malpractices. If the entire nation judges the performance of the regional or central government, elections will reflect the true hopes and aspirations of the Indian population.