Guj law: ‘Not practical to make voting compulsory all India’

After getting the Gujarat Local Authorities Law (Amendment) Bill 2009 passed in the Assembly on Saturday,Chief Minister Narendra Modi had said the objective was to “bring the voter,rather than the political party,centrestage”,and to “strengthen democracy”.

K J Rao,former adviser to the Election Commission,said compulsory voting “is a welcome idea,but it remains to be seen how it is implemented”. On Saturday,Modi had said that “similar legislations had been adopted in as many as 32 countries”. Rao,however,said “it is only in 19 out of these 32 countries that it was actually enforced,and only some of them like Belgium had provisions for punitive action for a voter’s failure to cast his vote.”

“There’s a view that voting is a civic right,rather than a civic duty. Voter awareness drives are far more desirable,” Rao said. EC officials said turnouts like 60 per cent in Naxal-hit Jharkhand and over 70 per cent in Arunachal Pradesh were “pointers to healthy democracy in India”.

On Sunday,Modi’s idea found qualified support in BJP-ruled Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka. Non-BJP parties like the Congress,and CPM have argued that forcible voting is anti-democratic.

The voters choice to reject all candidates — the so-called ‘none-of the-above option’ — may,however,be a reality soon. An EC proposal to include this option in electronic voting machines is before the Parliamentary Committee on Personnel,Public Grievances,Law and Justice. Gujarat too has emphasised on this option in its new law.