Voting Rights in India

With elections under way in many states of India, all Indian citizens who are eligible to vote are
given a chance to exercise their franchise and participate in the electoral process. The Indian
Constitution has granted the right to vote to all Indian citizens of sound mind above the age of
18, irrespective of an individual’s caste, religion, social or economic status. This right is
universally granted to all Indians, with a few exceptions.

As a voter, you are entitled to certain rights and privileges as laid down by the Constitution,
which safeguards the rights of the voter. It also lays down the conditions under which this
privilege is granted to citizens. Voting is not a fundamental right, but is a legal right granted to
citizens.

So what are the rights granted to voters in India? Given below are some of right and duties of
voters.

Who Can Vote?

As per the Indian Constitution, all Indian citizens above the age of 18 years who have registered
themselves as voters are eligible to vote. These individuals can vote in national, state, district as
well as local government body elections.

No individual can be detained or prevented from voting, unless they fulfil the criteria for
disqualification.

Every voter is allowed one vote only. A voter can vote at the constituency where he has
registered himself only.

Eligible voters have to register themselves in the constituency where they live, upon which they
will be issued photo election identity cards (also known as EPIC cards). Individuals are not
permitted to participate in the electoral process if they have not registered or do not possess
a voter ID card.

Disqualification from Voting Process

The Indian Constitution has laid down the following rules regarding disqualification of voters
from the election process:
 Individuals who are convicted of offences committed under Section 171E (which deals with
bribery) and Section 171F (which deals with personation or undue influence at an election) of
the Indian Penal Code are disqualified from participating in elections.
 Those convicted of offences under Section 125 (which deals with various electoral offences),
Section 135 and Section 136 of the Representation of People’s Act face disqualification from
elections.
 If an individual votes in more than one constituency, his vote is disqualified.

How Can You Vote?

Polling Booth:

In India, all voters who are eligible to take part in the electoral process are required to cast their
ballot (or vote) at the polling booth in person. This is done to ensure that the registered voter
exercises his ballot himself and his vote is not used by an impersonator.

Postal Ballot:

In special cases, voting can be done by post, which is known as postal ballot. Postal ballots are
conducted for those individuals who are unable to visit a polling booth in person due to certain
reasons.

Generally, postal ballot privileges are given to members of the armed forces posted across the
country and overseas, to individuals who are on election duty (such as electoral officers,
policemen on duty etc).

Postal ballot can also be granted to those individuals who are under preventive detention,
resulting in their inability to visit a polling booth and cast their vote in person.

Voting Rights

Below are some of the rights of voters as granted and safeguarded by the Indian Constitution.

Right to Know:

All voters have the right to know about the candidates who are contesting for the elections. This
right has been granted to voters under Section 19 of the Indian Constitution. This Section
empowers voters to seek information pertaining to the election manifesto of the candidates, their
total financial worth as also their criminal record, if any.

Right Not to Vote (NOTA):

Voters have been granted the right not to vote, which is recorded in the system. Also known as a
NOTA (None of the above) vote, the voter participates in the election but chooses not to vote for
any of the candidates contesting the elections.

In this way, voters are participating in the electoral process and exercising their right to choose if
they wish to vote for the candidates contesting or not.

Special Assistance to Infirm and Illiterate Voters:

As per the guidelines of the Election Code, voters who are unable to cast their votes due to
physical disability or other such infirmity and can’t cast their vote through postal ballot, can take
the assistance of an electoral officer, who will record their vote.

NRI and Prisoner Voting Rights:

An NRI (Non Resident Indian) was not permitted to vote until recently. However an amendment
was made in 2010 which allows NRI’s to register themselves as voters and vote in elections,
even if they have not been in the country for over 6 months for any reason.

Prisoners are not permitted to exercise their franchise as per the current law.

Tendered Votes:

This applies to an individual who declares himself a voter and seeks to cast his vote when a vote
has already been cast in his name. In such a case the individual can cast his vote if he can
provide proof as to his identity. His vote will be recorded on a separate ballot paper as decided
by the Election Commission.
Introduction
The Right to Vote is such a simple yet complex right known to every citizen in India. But what
many citizens are not aware of is about the inherent value/ importance it holds. The Right to
Vote is available in our country to almost everyone equally at 18 years of age irrespective of
their religion, gender, education or literacy level. Voting is a fundamental right of every citizen
who is of sound mind in India. It helps them to choose the leaders of tomorrow to contribute
towards the country’s development. It helps for a better India.

Basically, in simple words, voting is a process that enables the citizens the right to choose their
own government. In this way, it makes the nation’s government system work. By voting people
can choose their representatives in the government. The chosen government takes care of the
people’s needs and develops and executes various schemes, initiatives for the benefit of its
people and the country.

History of voting rights in India and other countries

Voting means making little changes in the country’s development. If people are not interested in
any of the candidates then there is NOTA. But denying voting directly means that the person is
not interested in the country’s development. In India, almost everyone gets the right to vote after
18 years of age. But, there are many countries around the world in which this right is not
available to everyone equally. Also, contrary to these countries, there are other countries where
voting is made compulsory which makes it one’s DUTY TO VOTE. These countries have a rule
as to illegal not to vote.

Going back to the 19th century, in many countries, voting rights were given on the basis of race,
gender, social class and wealth. In fact, there are some countries where only landowners were
only given the right to vote.

The reason behind this is because there was only one form of tax which was property tax. Only
the people who paid tax were allowed to vote. Later many social classes appeared and everyone
voted based on how much tax they paid.
Also, in the countries like the U.S, there was discrimination on the basis of skin colour. In other
countries like Prussia, voters were divided into three classes based on the amount of tax paid.
One who paid the most taxes belongs to the first category and the lowest taxpayer belonged to
the third category. Until the 1960s, countries like Canada and Australia did not give voting rights
to Indigenous people. Until the 20th century, there were many countries where voting rights were
given based on one’s literacy level. In fact, there were literacy tests conducted in many US states
to determine if one was eligible to Vote. This affected minority and poor people who had a
disadvantage. This was prevalent in countries like Canada, Chile, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil.

The voting age prevalent in most of the countries like Austria, Brazil and Argentina including in
India is 16 years. In some countries like Oman and Lebanon, the voting age is as high as 21
years. Coming to the point on those who cannot have voting rights are Prisoners. Criminality is
one of the reasons as to prisoners do not have voting rights in India. Also, the same applies to
countries like France, Germany and the U.S.

Historically, there were some countries that do not give voting rights based on their religion like
the Maldives that only gives voting rights to Muslim Citizens which is still prevalent. In many
western countries, Voting rights were decided based on gender and voting rights of women were
given only after the 19th century. New Zealand was the first country that gave women and all the
people equal voting rights.

In India, post-independence we were given the right to vote equally irrespective of religion,
gender, literacy level. But, what will happen if our voting rights turn into a duty? What if it was
compulsory for us to vote? There are many countries even today where there is compulsory
voting rule been made. Belgium is one such country that has been using compulsory voting since
the longest time. The penalty for not voting is one may have to pay fine or face prosecution.

Historically, Spain, Switzerland, Netherlands, Italy and Venezuela had compulsory voting but it
was abolished.
Today, there are 22 countries, that practice compulsory voting but out of these 22, only 11
enforce this. If you do not vote in Singapore, you could be disenfranchised which means a
Citizens right can be withdrawn. In Peru and Greece, Public goods and Services can be
withdrawn to the Citizens that do not vote. In Brazil, one’s passport can be taken away if they
do not vote. In Bolivia, which is a South American country, citizens who do not vote could be
barred from withdrawing three months of their salary. Whether in India, compulsory voting be
made or not? There can be arguments on both sides.

Also, the Sixty-first Amendment of the Constitution of India, officially known as The
Constitution (Sixty-first Amendment) Act, 1988, lowered the voting age of elections to the Lok
Sabha and to the Legislative Assemblies of States from 21 years to 18 years. This was done by
amending Article 354 of the Constitution, which concerns elections to the Lok Sabha and the
Assemblies.

The UDHR (Universal Declaration of Human Rights) Article 21 states: Everyone has a right to
take part in the government of his/her country, directly/through freely chosen representatives.

Reasons to vote

It’s our right

One such reason to vote is that it’s our right. It can be claimed by us. It’s an individual opinion to
vote for the person one likes.

You can change

By voting, one will cast his right of opinion to elect a representative he wants. In this way, in a
case when the person gets selected on whom the person cast his right, it will lead to a change for
a better India.

Your vote counts

NOTA

NOTA means ‘None of the above’. This is an option given to the people to choose in any case if
people are not satisfied with any of the candidates. This option will make a great difference.
when many people go for this option, it will mean that there are not enough candidates.