Four reasons why Gujarat's compulsory voting will fail

Gujarat is set to become the first state in the country to make voting compulsory. Compulsory voting will be implemented in the upcoming district panchayat and municipal corporation elections in October. According to chief minister Anandiben Patel, the state government has made all the necessary arrangements to implement the new law and it has also been framing rules for people who cannot cast their votes. The norms for imposing penalty are also being framed and they are likely to be declared soon.

The Act has already had its share of controversy. Former Gujarat governor Kamla Beniwal had blocked the Gujarat Local Authorities Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2009 for several years when Narendra Modi was the chief minister of the state. It finally got assent from incumbent governor OP Kohli in November, 2014.

The law now is poised to get even more controversial once it is implemented and those failing to exercise their franchise are penalised. The Congress has been opposing it tooth and nail. Their argument is that such a system is imposed on communist countries like Russia and China.

Though the system is being put to practice on a relatively smaller scale in Gujarat - 253 municipalities, 208 taluka (tehsil) panchayats, 26 district panchayats and six municipal corporations - there are four reasons why it cannot be upscaled and implemented at the state and national levels:

1. Constitutionality: Right to vote for every citizen above the age of 18 is guaranteed through Article 326 of the Constitution and section 62 of the Representation of Peoples Act (RoPA), 1951, which states that every person who is in the electoral roll of that constituency will be entitled to vote. It is argued that right to vote also implies right not to vote. The state will infringe on the right of the citizens by making it mandatory to vote. The issue has not yet been scrutinised by the courts.

2. Resources: This may prove to be the biggest stumbling block in the implementation of the law. From tracking each and every person who has not voted to summoning them, asking them to pay penalties, as well as reporting them to designated authorities - everything will be a gargantuan task for the administration. The procedure will also entail huge expenditure and wasteful consumption of time. It is needless to mention that more human resources in the government machinery would have to be created to just address logistics. In the 2014 general elections, 28 per cent of the voters did not cast their votes. Of the 83.41 crore registered voters, only 55.38 crore exercised their franchise. Even if 10 per cent of the voters do not vote, the government would be heavily burdened to deal with over eight crore people. More people will approach the already burdened courts and, thus, there will be a phenomenal spurt in court cases.

3. Corruption and harassment: As it is, corruption is rampant in the country and this law will create one more opportunity for the officials to demand bribe from the defaulters. Bribes will be demanded to lessen the penalty, and higher amounts will be demanded for issuing clean chits to those who fail to exercise their franchise. It will be up to the discretion of the officials to accept or reject the reasons assigned by the defaulters. Thus, instances of dubious dealings will rise sharply and those refusing to pay bribes will also be harassed by the officials. 

4.  Abstention: Some may suggest that because abstaining from voting is allowed for the law-makers in Parliament and state assemblies, the common citizens should also be permitted to enjoy the same rights.