Eliminating The Barrier To The Right To Vote
keywords – Right to vote, Fundamental rights, India, Universal Suffrage
Introduction
Voters must have faith in the electoral process for our democracy to succeed in today’s environment. We cannot simply be observers in order to improve the functioning of our representatives and make democracy work. The ignorance of one voter jeopardizes the security of all in a country like ours. Democracy is not about politics; it is about the people, and they are the true power brokers. Our country, India, is the world’s largest democracy, with over 900 million registered voters. To ensure maximum voter turnout, the election commission has been conducting campaigns in many different Indian states.
Voting is a constitutional right in India, and is supposed to involve voluntary participation. Voting day is treated as a day of rest in urban areas, which has its own adverse consequences. The people of our country must contribute to selecting the best person to represent them. Similarly the elected leader must ensure the well-being of the voters.
History Of Voting Rights In India
Under British rule, the right to vote was restricted to certain eligibility criteria such as property ownership, land ownership, and payment of income. The Morley-Minto Reforms, which followed the Indian Council Act of 1901, were a small but significant step toward educating people about their right to vote. The Government of India Act of 1909, which divided the government into two bodies: the Council of States and the Central Legislative Assembly, was a watershed moment in the country’s history.
Under British rule, women’s right to vote was recognized in the 1920s, and between 1919 and 1929, all British provinces granted women the right to vote, with women even contesting local elections. In 1927, the Simon Commission advocated for lowering the voting age to 21, and within ten years, the gender gap in voting percentages began to close, and there is now almost no gap. India’s true existence on the global stage began in 1951, the year of the first general elections. Following India’s complete independence, the adoption of the Indian Constitution paved the way for the establishment of a country with deeply ingrained democratic values, and India has served as a global symbol of these values.
Barriers To The Exercise Of The Right To Vote
Non-voting is rightly described as the worst disease a democracy can have. The right to vote and voting in general are more important than ever in India in the twenty-first century. The problem with voting is twofold. For starters, when voting lists are compiled, people who are legally eligible to vote do not bother to register. Second, those on the voting list act casually and fail to exercise this enormous privilege, which is critical to the proper functioning of the government and democracy. The turnout in the 2019’s Lok Sabha elections was 67.47%, which was only 1.03% higher than in 2014.
Our primary concern at this time should be to investigate the causes of such low voter turnout and devise solutions. We would eliminate the barriers to exercising one’s right to vote.
1. The Illiterate Voter
Literacy is crucial in a developing country like India. It is a fundamental human right and the basis for any individual’s ability to learn. Literacy is important not only for social and human development, but also for empowering individuals to change their lives. UNESCO has even designated a literacy day to help promote the importance of literacy in overall national development.
2. No right to vote for the undertrial
No one shall vote in any election if they are confined in prison under a sentence of imprisonment, transportation, or otherwise, or are in the lawful custody of the police, according to Section 62(5) of the Representation of the People’s Act of 1951, which governs the right to vote.
It would be unjust to include criminal suspicion in this category. Furthermore, every accused person is presumed innocent until proven guilty. It is unjust and unreasonable to deprive someone based on mere suspicion. In a densely populated country like India with such wide economic disparities, it is safe to assume that many undertrial prisoners remain in prison due to their incapacity and inability to pay the bail bond. Sometimes they are infact unaware of their right to bail. Excluding undertrials from voting can be interpreted as a stumbling block to their voting rights.
3. Problem with the EVM Machine
An EVM is an important component of participatory democracy because it allows voters to vote for their preferred candidate or the NOTA option. To make an informed decision, each voter must understand how an EVM works. All of the losing political parties in our country have been accused of fraud, and it is correct to say that “voting fraud is not present or absent everywhere.” Computer scientists tinkered with machines to show how simple it is. A malicious voting system supplied by a single vendor has the potential to taint millions of votes. According to the congressional research service of electronic reform and electronic voting systems, vendors claim to transmit election results via VPN. Even this approach, however, is vulnerable to internet-based attack.
CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION
The government in power must facilitate free and fair elections in order to uphold the essence of democracy. Democracy can only exist and thrive as long as people are involved and have a voice. Democracy dies when the government controls the election process and deviates people’s votes and opinions according to their whims and wishes. To survive and keep democracy alive, governmental influence on vote choice, number of votes cast, and EVM function must be kept to a minimum. To achieve maximum participation, voters’ mistrust and skepticism must be dispelled.
We cannot claim to be one of the largest democracies unless we have maximum participation. Our forefathers fought for our independence and for this democracy. It is a shame and disgrace that we as a nation are incapable of upholding and respecting their struggles. The moment a vote is manipulated, we lose our fight for independence. We lose it every time an EVM is tampered with, a vote is manipulated, a voter’s vote to uphold our principles, our nation, and our ideals, we must instill and imbibe voting as a necessary practice. Voting is as essential to democracy as breathing is, and we must preserve, propagate, and promote the practice of voting.
Written By – JAY KUMAR GUPTA
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