Non Voters in India – why people abstain from voting ?
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 elections. In a country where the latest election commission figures suggest that 814.5 million people are eligible to vote, around 34 per cent don’t vote, which is a worrisome number.
However, in the state assembly elections, the number of voters’ turnout has been comparatively larger and some states in recent years have seen a turnout as high as 82.9 per cent (as was seen in Mizoram in the last assembly elections). Yet, on average, still about 30-35 per cent voters don’t vote in states either.
Why don’t people vote?
Before we dwell into the issue, I wish to point out that a significant trend has emerged with 16 of the 35 states and union territories reporting higher female turnout than male voter participation in the last general elections. These included Bihar!
Yet, politically crucial states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are among the lowest-ranking states in terms of turnout along with Jammu & Kashmir (a state where elections are marred by ban calls from the separatist groups). In the 2014 general elections, around 42 per cent voters did not vote in UP while in Bihar, the percentage of those who did not vote was around 44 per cent. In Jammu & Kashmir, almost half of the voters did not turn up to vote yet with 50.1 percent polling, the state saw a major improvement on the 39.7 percent turnout of 2009.
Obviously, the conditions in Bihar and UP cannot be equated with those in J&K. Yet, can we attribute less voter’s turnout with the backwardness of these states? Lack of awareness and backwardness could be a significant reason for low voters’ turnout. But they cannot be the absolute reason for the people abstaining from voting.
Else, how can one explain the low voter turnout in the recent European elections where less than one in three eligible people took part? Even in a more advanced democracy such as the USA, only 57.5 per cent of voters had participated in the 2012 presidential elections!
High Voter Turnout during 2014 Lok Sabha Elections
Unlike in the USA, where a Harvard University Institute of Politics study showed that young people were ‘losing faith in their institutions, including government’, the turnout of youth for voting in India has been quite encouraging.
Yet another finding of the Harvard study that elected officials need to find ways to make young people feel empowered to participate holds good for India too.
Yet another finding of the Harvard study that elected officials need to find ways to make young people feel empowered to participate holds good for India too.
Obviously, the higher turnout of voters in the general elections 2014 proves that what India needed was an assurance that development could be made only through ballot. Therefore, once the Election Commission of India initiated campaigns in some parts of the country to convince people to vote for candidates who are pro-development and dump criminals and the corrupt, it fetched positive results. A systematic voter education and enrollment programmes too did help.
Hindrances in People’s Participation in Polls
The number of voters could have been better but for the lapses such as the missing voters’ names in the electoral list. In Maharashtra, this deprived over six million voters of voting. Another bottleneck is the existence of booth capturing despite strict measures to check them. The new trend of ‘Silent Booth Capturing’ allegedly with state’s connivance, means fear is created in the minds of the enforcing agencies as was highlighted at Marshaghai in Odisha where following an attack on a Block Development Officer, the Odisha Administrative Service Officers’ Association threatened to boycott any poll related activities if the government failed to take action against the assaulters. In West Bengal and UP too, this issue of silent booth capturing was raised by the BJP which claimed that agents of Opposition parties were threatened and turned away from booths since the Central forces were being used for ‘non-election purposes’, and the local police and home guards were managing polling booths.
However, measures to ensure clean elections and sensitising the people on the need to vote for better governance and development are not enough as still a large number of people are not turning up to cast their votes.
Is Compulsory Voting the Way-out?
In such a scenario, what else could be needed to ensure larger people’s participation in elections?
Did you know that in Australia voting is mandatory and no excuse in this regard is entertained? It is simple that either your vote, or pay a fine. It is interesting to note that as of August 2013, 11 countries enforced compulsory voting.
But can such enforcements in a country like India ever work?
Did you know that in Australia voting is mandatory and no excuse in this regard is entertained? It is simple that either your vote, or pay a fine. It is interesting to note that as of August 2013, 11 countries enforced compulsory voting.
But can such enforcements in a country like India ever work?
It may be recalled that the Narendra Modi-led BJP government in Gujarat had passed a bill in December 2009 that provided for making voting compulsory. Though the Bill did not receive the assent of the state Governor on the ground that the bill violated Article 19(1) (A) of the Constitution which guarantees freedom of expression that also included the right not to vote.
In March 2011, the bill was yet again reintroduced in the Assembly without carrying out the changes recommended by the Governor. But the state government did not press for its passage immediately.
However, much has changed since then. The Supreme Court ruling on 27th September 2013 provides a None of the Above (NOTA) option on the Electronic Voting Machine and ballot papers so that the voters who do not want to vote for any of the candidates can exercise their option in secrecy. This obviously has encouraged the voters to come to the polling booth and the larger voter turnout is a testimony to this. The ruling has provided an important option to the voters and given them more freedom to express themselves. Consider the fact – as many as 2.8 per cent of the 10, 80,845 voters pressed the NOTA button in the two parliamentary seats in Meghalaya this year!
Can provisions such as NOTA lead to compulsory voting? It is high time to explore some other measures too so that the Indian democracy can enjoy better health!
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