Make voting compulsory, says Ansari

Vice President M Hamid Ansari has called for electoral reforms, including compulsory voting and proportional representation in legislatures representing all sections of society.

“To give greater meaning to representative democracy, we must come out with electoral reforms,” he said at an interaction with students and faculty of National Institute of Advanced Studies here on Thursday.

A candidate wins with just 25 per cent of total votes polled in his constituency. He does not represent the majority. Hence it is essential to bring about three changes in the electoral system, Ansari said.

The High Power Committee on electoral reforms is considering some of them. Voting should be made compulsory and the winning candidate should win only if he polls more than 50 per cent votes.