Non Voters in India – why people abstain from voting ? By Deepak Parvatiyar September 1, 2014 “The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.” Ancient Greece’s philosopher Plato’s saying still holds good. We take pride in India being a robust democracy. Yet, as a matter of concern, still a large population does not vote in the elections. A casual look at figures suggest that on an average around forty percent voters don’t turn up for voting in a general election in India. This trend has prevailed right from the very first general elections in the country in 1952 when the total voters’ turnout was 61 percent. The 2004 elections – which were contested on the then ruling National Democratic Front’s ‘India Shining’ plank – saw the lowest voters’ turnout with an abysmal 48.74 percent. The highest turnout registered in a single general election was when 66.38 per cent of voters exercised their right in the last 2014 general election
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