Should voting be made mandatory? Check survey result

New Delhi, Jan 25: As the nation eagerly awaits the elections of five states, here comes a report from a survey claiming that 86 per cent of Indians want voting to be made mandatory in the country.

Location-based social network platform Public App conducted a pan-India survey that claims that over 80 per cent of participants trust the current voting process in the country. It was conducted with a sample size of over four lakh people.

Since 2011, National Voters' Day has been celebrated on January 25 and marks the foundation day of the Election Commission in 1950. It aims to encourage the enrolment of new and young voters. The theme of this National Voters' Day is: "Making elections inclusive, accessible, and participative". "Voting as a civic duty is a crucial contribution to social development by the citizens of the nation.

According to the survey, "As many as 86 per cent of respondents were in agreement when asked if voting should be made mandatory in the country," the survey stated. The results come ahead of next month's assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur.

Also, the survey, in which 60 per cent of respondents were under the age of 30, stated 81 per cent of them trust the transparency of the current voting process. On the top deciding factors for voters, it said for 34 per cent of respondents, it was the performance of polling candidates in their last term, and for 31 per cent, it was detailed research of all candidates in the fray.

The survey said overall popularity mattered for 4.96 per cent of respondents and for 11.92 per cent, the political party of the contesting candidate.

When asked why people would skip voting, 30.04 per cent of its respondents said "being in another city" as the reason to have missed on casting their vote. Interestingly, 56.3 per cent claimed they have never missed out on exercising their franchise, the survey said.

"Did not have information about elections (5.22 per cent), did not support any party (7.19 per cent), and got lazy/did not care (1.27 per cent) were among other reasons given by respondents for them not voting in the past," it said.

Of the surveyed people, 79.5 per cent have claimed to cast a vote "at least once" in their lifetime. PTI