Elections in India

"Democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time." Winston Churchill

Long queues outside government buildings or schools/colleges with smiling and happy faces are a rare sight. Add to the fact that the work inside would only take a couple of minutes and leave a mark on the body; you would say that people coming outside would surely be angry and frustrated. 

On the contrary, people line up voluntarily and come out more relieved and cheerful, clicking selfies and showing off their Mark. This utopian-sounding situation was visible within 2 KM of your house in polling stations across India during the seven-phase-long Lok Sabha elections. 

As Indians, we are happy to avoid visits to government buildings, school offices, or any government event, and yet people take great pride in walking into a polling station. It is the only place where long queues are signs of a prospering democracy. 

When India started its experiment with Modern electoral democracy in the 1951 Lok Sabha elections, not many on the world stage gave us any chance of conducting free and fair elections. Political thinkers were skeptical about how a largely illiterate population, with a vast geography and a lack of resources, would conduct an election where more than 400 million people would vote. For Indian democracy, the biggest challenge was to make people believe in the Democratic process, which required a free and fair election. 

The 1st Lok Sabha election built the trust of the people of India in Elections and the process of Elections. This success was due to the efforts of the newly formed Elections Commission of India and the last legacy of our Freedom movement leaders. Freedom movement leaders not only gave everyone the Right to Vote without any limitation (the only limit is age) but also made efforts to make it a success by participating in large numbers, in their capacity, as candidates, workers, or cheerleaders of the elections. 

Evolution of Elections 

After 73 years, we are still building on the foundations of the first general elections. In the First Lok Sabha elections, there were 175 Million eligible voters, more than two lakh ballot boxes, 68 phases of voting, and the Indelible Ink. Manufactured and made in India by Mysore Paints and Varnish, the Indelible Ink marks people who have voted once and yet do not leave any permanent mark on their skin. Seventy-three years later, the Ink has remained. It is a shining example of solutions made for India. ECI identified the problem and found a solution that has stood the test of time and has been a resounding success. 

In 1993, ECI took the next step in stopping fraudulent voting. ECI, under TN Sesshan, introduced the photo Voter ID, which now verifies the voter with a photo ID. Photo Voter IDs put an end to people voting using other voter slips. While Voter IDs have been in practice since the first general elections, they did not carry photo IDs, which made them susceptible to being misused for voter fraud. With the added feature of Photo IDs, this practice has come under control.

Issuance of Voter IDs in itself is a democratic process that has made Indian democracy strong. Unlike in USA, where the voter has to register before every election and laws are varied across state lines. Voter registration, since 1951, has only become more accessible. Reduction of the age limit to 18 years from 21 years, online application and tracking on the ECI website, home delivery of Voter IDs, and single registration for all Elections(including Vidhan Sabha, Municipality, or Panchayat) have made Voting easier and reflected in higher voter turnouts. 

With higher turnouts, ECI also knew it would face a big problem in counting votes. Any delay in the announcement of results and counting gives space and time for the legitimacy of elections to come under scrutiny. With Ballot boxes, ECI had a massive task of counting and increasing the trend of Booth captures and ballot boxes filled with bogus votes, as they were non-unique vote slips.

Since the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, with the help of Electronic Voting Machines, ECI counts more than 600 Million votes within a day. Since the introduction of EVMs, instances of booth captures have been fewer, and bogus voting has reduced. Paired with the Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT), EVM has increased the trust in the voting process. However, in recent elections, it has come under scrutiny by some parties. Still, the same parties won their state elections using the same technology. 

Reforms

Criticism regarding Elections in India is often seen as a question or criticism of the ruling government or the recent results due to criticism only coming from the opposition dispensation wanting to defame or discredit the government. Criticism and reforms should be an honest attempt to let the Voters make the best possible decision on the ballot.

 Changes like the introduction of the EVM machine, reduction of age limit, and spending limits for candidates have improved elections in India and have been successful. We need to look at reforms and criticism of the election process as a way to improve the election process and take the Democratic process further. 

Issues like the influence of money, Corporate funding in Political parties, and empowering NOTA are issues in elections that need new reforms. Corporate funding in political parties is another issue that needs reforms to increase transparency. 

NOTA is another reform that needs strengthening. Indian voters value their votes and vote intelligently. The best example of this is Odisha voters, who voted for both Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha simultaneously and showed different trends in both. While BJD won easily in Vidhan Sabha, BJP gained massively in Lok Sabha. NOTA needs to be a viable option in the ballot list, and if it wins, triggers re-election should be looked at. Indian Voters need the option of not choosing the candidates put forward by parties. NOTA re-elections would lead to parties fielding new leaders and Voters not being restricted to choosing a lesser representative because of a lack of options. 

Reforms enabling our large internal migration population to vote is another long overdue reform. States like UP, Bihar Jharkhand, and districts where large season migration happens during Voting months suffer with low percentages due to the lack of financial ability to make a single day round trip just for voting. 

Elections are a festival in India. From the day of the announcement of voting dates to the actual polling date and the counting day, each day has its fanfare and preparation. This festival of democracy has come a long way from 1951 and has strengthened over these 73 years. Elections have always captured the voice of voters, be it in the elections of 1977 after the end of Emergency or the era of coalitions of the 1990s when numerous coalitions won. This Lok Sabha election will be no different, where on the 4th of June, the real winners would be Indian democracy and Voters.