Electoral reforms: right to reject, right to recall

[yoda]

How about making voting compulsory ? We have this in Aus and its works fine' date=' people who dont go out to vote get a fine and if they believe that they dont like ANY of the candidates then they can tell the official that they are refusing to vote but for that they still need to visit the polling booth.[/quote'] That's a great idea. Don't know why it is not more common.

[urbestfriend]

You really believe that majority of people continue to vote for such sops. I remember Karunanidhi's party in the recent assembly elections gave away Laptops, no less, and they still lost emphatically. Sir, don't you think that you are being a little too precious here? I mean so what if people are not literate, most of india is educated (I differentiate literacy and education...one can be educated even without having the ability to read or write. Ppl like Mohd the Prophet, Narayana Murthy's mother (as he claims she is well educated although hardly 5th pass), my late grandma, I am sure many of your relatives too would fall in that category). Why is there this feeling in us Indians that most of our countrymen are useless fellows but we (i.e. my circle of urban literate and upper middle class fellows) are more or less coherent? Agree on both these points

Cmon now, who says illiterates are useless. You've drawn your own conclusions based on what I wrote. However our parliamentarians and legislators have a responsibility of making laws and you got to make sure that those contesting election understands their responsibility, so there is nothing wrong to have a basic minimum qualification.

[Vijay.Sharma]

It has a few other questions as well, which I guess is stopping the EC from implementing it. 1) What is the threshold percentage of rejection above which the election is null and void.

The rule says that if "none of the above" is the largest then it wins. No percentage issue involved at all.

2) Do we allow the same candidates to stand in reelection? If not' date=' then further time is needed for new candidates to file nominations. Should the remaining results be held up till the rejections elections get over[/quote']If none of the above wins then none of the already contesting candidates are allowed to run for the re-poll. That is a non issue, tbh. A symbol can be devised very easily. Literacy is not necessary to run an electronic machine either. Visual symbols are more than enough. If ppl who are illiterate can vote on symbols then they should be able to vote a symbol for none of the above

[Vijay.Sharma]

Mohd.Azharuddin-enough said Govinda,Chiranjeevi-Do people even look at what kind of policies and political agenda these guys have before voting for them?Being telugu ,Chiranjeevi was my idol growing up but me and my entire family voted for Loksatta party headed by J.P.Narayan-A qualified IAS officer and an intellect with atleast some sort of a vision.How many votes did JP's party get compared to Chiranjeevi These are just some higher level examples...there are so many other who win elections by influencing people on Communal and Caste lines..Do you think if you contest for elections in old city area of Hyderabad against MIM you will win with a name like 'Vijay Sharma' despite having more ideas for development than their own leader. In a perfectly functioning democracy your ideas hold a lot of value but in a complex democracy like ours I am afraid it doesn't find a place

Again you are being too precious. You might not like chiranjeevi, govinda, azhar, manmohan, rahul gandhi, lk advani, etc, etc, etc. But a democracy, strip it of all the romanticism and idealism attached to it, quite simply means majority wins and you do not need a thumping majority either. 51 wins over 49 no matter how much we cry about it. Democracy is just another word for Majoritocracy. If you think you are being a greatly educated, well informed fellow just coz u voted for lokasatta (my parents voted for him too) then your living under an illusion. There are surely far more intelligent, educated, and well-meaning people than my father, mother, and you have ever been, who have also chosen not to vote for JPNarayan. Let's get this very clear - no human being is intrinsically greater or lesser than any other human being. Literacy is NOT EQUAL TO education. Our cities are filled with uneducated-literates. Our country is filled with illiterate-educated people. For all the great "education" and degrees of kapil sibal, mms, chiddu, gandhi, and others these buggers had no bloody political nous to handle the situation a few days back. It's a myth that our country willingly elects tainted people. Let us give them an off option to choose not to elect someone and let's see how many of them willingly choose to elect criminals.

[Vijay.Sharma]

Right to recall is dangerous. Here in California, there was a recall of a governor in the middle of his term, not because he did anything illegal, simply because the opposition successfully did a petition mid-term to initiate a recall and then voters joined them cause they thought the choice they now had was better than the sitting governor. There should be a process to remove a person in office (like it happened in case of Raja), not by middle of the term recall by voters though. Regarding Right to reject, that's kind of weird. How can voters reject someone who has been declared eligible other than voting for someone else?

The person may be eligible because he circumvented the established criteria. I agree with you that right to recall may not be the right thing to do for a country like ours but right to reject is a must.

[Vijay.Sharma]

Cmon now' date=' who says illiterates are useless. You've drawn your own conclusions based on what I wrote. However our parliamentarians and legislators have a responsibility of making laws and you got to make sure that those contesting election understands their responsibility, so there is nothing wrong to have a basic minimum qualification.[/quote']That's fair enough but in a democracy you cannot hold it against someone if he cannot read or write. Literacy has very very little to do with understanding legislation and the process of drafting laws. Law writing and creation has everything to do with common sense, visionary and legal acumen.

[Vijay.Sharma]

That's a great idea. Don't know why it is not more common.

You can't make voting compulsory in a democracy. What if I don't like any of the candidates you cannot then force me to vote for someone. You can make voting compulsory only if you also provide the option of 'none of the above'. I think Narendra Modi was arguing to introduce compulsory voting in Gujarat (of course with the inclusion of section 49 i.e. none of the above)

[yoda]

You can't make voting compulsory in a democracy. What if I don't like any of the candidates you cannot then force me to vote for someone. You can make voting compulsory only if you also provide the option of 'none of the above'. I think Narendra Modi was arguing to introduce compulsory voting in Gujarat (of course with the inclusion of section 49 i.e. none of the above)

It is not making voting compulsory. It is making sure you have said what you want to do regarding this all important event in your country. It is compulsory to take action (just like you need to file taxes every year), even if that action says - "I am here, and I refuse to vote". It is one of the most important actions that can shape your country's future for the next 5 years, yet it is done with so few people participating. In fact it is appalling to hear the voting % in India, is probably one of the worst amongst democracies. We will have issues though. Many people will genuinely be unable to get to the voting booth due to finances (loss of work hours), medical issues, etc. Forcing them all to pay a fine is not a good idea either. In the US, employers have to give employees time to vote, that is a law that may help, if not already in place.

[Sachin=GOD]

First make voting compulsory then talk about poll reforms.