demo cracy
I'm getting a Voter's ID card made for myself here in Bangalore. With the local elections round the corner, there is somewhat of a drive to get people in Bangalore to register as voters. I'm not sure who is behind that drive, though. I can't imagine any of the political parties interested in that!
I haven't voted yet. Strangely, I've always taken this democracy thing for granted. Somehow it works without me. And not many (none, actually!) of my friends or other acquaintances talk about it. Politics, yes - usually with, at worst, a cynical or, at best, an indifferent attitude. But not about the process or of participating in it. Funny how I end up reading more about the American Presidential elections than the Indian Central Government ones. But in all fairness, it is because the American elections are a larger media event.
Anyhow, this time I'm determined to vote in the state elections. I would love to get my hands on some statistics about the vote bank here - how much is rural, how much is urban, etc. With the population of Bangalore shooting up as it has in the past few years, it must have caused the vote bank to shift and become more urban. Has it really? Do the political parties know that and are they shifting focus for it?
Bangalore probably has the largest number of flux of its denizens - I would estimate a significant percentage of Bangaloreans live here for 3-4 years, not more. That could potentially create a section of people who are being governed without even getting a chance to take part it in it, what with the bureaucracy, delays and disinterest in getting electoral rolls modified.
It would be fantastic if all this data were available somewhere.
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3 comments:
The interesting thing is that the voting demographic in Bangalore is probably the one thing that hasn't changed in the past 20 years.
- My parents, for example, are registered to vote and have been voting in the same constituency for 40 years now.
- I voted the once after I turned 18, but now can't vote anymore for obvious reasons.
- It's so difficult to register after moving states in India that people like you typically don't ever change their voting registration, and unless they physically travel home to vote, they won't get to.
By the time we did, the system will correct itself by somehow allowing absentee balloting (like the west does - approximately 10% on average in the US, I believe.)
If you're living in about the same area your constituency won't change, will it.
Yes, the voting demographic may not have changed much, but I think a change is definitely in order now. But what are the chances of that happening!
I actually found I knew a couple of people who travelled back to their home state/town just to vote.
How do you plan to get the ink stain off your finger?
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