Many Karnataka lawmakers bat for compulsory voting

Will democracy work better if voting becomes compulsory? But, what happens to freewill if citizens are forced to vote?

The Karnataka Assembly witnessed a serious discussion on whether or not voting should be made compulsory during a special debate on electoral reforms.

Many lawmakers favoured compulsory voting, while former law minister Krishna Byre Gowda found himself in a minority when he argued against it.

“The Law Commission, in its 255th report, has discussed compulsory voting. They say the Constitution has given us the right to vote, but it's not a fundamental duty. The fundamental right to vote also means the right not to vote. This is my opinion also,” the Congress MLA said, triggering strong reactions.

“Why then do we prepare electoral rolls? If you have no faith in the contesting candidates, there’s None Of The Above (NOTA) as an option,” former speaker K R Ramesh Kumar said. “Not exercising your authority as a voter is just unpatriotic.”

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Law Minister J C Madhuswamy concurred with Kumar and said NOTA was introduced to mandate voting. “NOTA can't be construed as the right not to vote,” he said.

Explaining his viewpoint, Madhuswamy said citizens must vote and participate in nation-building. “We’re a representative and participative democracy. In Kashmir, a government was formed with just 12% votes. Can we call that participative democracy,” he asked.

Basavanagudi MLA L A Ravi Subramanya recalled a confrontation he had with one of his constituents soon after the 2013 elections. “This person got aggressive and said I'm seen only when there’s an election. I noticed that he didn’t have ink on his finger. I pulled him up saying he can’t demand my services as he couldn’t spend even five minutes casting his vote,” he said.

Members also rued how rural areas see higher voter turnout. “Let’s look at the voter turnout in Palace Orchards (an affluent locality in Bengaluru),” Kumar rhetorically said.

According to BJP MLA P Rajeev, voting must be mandatory for democracy to succeed.

Earlier, senior Congress member H K Patil lamented that cities are not voting enough and made a case for voting to become compulsory.

Gowda stood his ground. “Democracy itself stands on freewill. How can you force it on me?” he asked. “Representation should happen by motivation, not compulsion. People have to feel motivated to participate. They shouldn’t be forced to vote. Doing so is an anathema to the idea of democracy.”

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