Last year, the election's news was being flashed on Television. People in a large number were coming out of the polling booth and they flaunted their fingers with an ink mark on it showing that they have voted in this election, marking their presence in democracy, also flagging their impression on the fact that they are the citizens of this country and are aware about their rights. It was the moment that kept me in a state of dilemma putting forward a question in my mind that 'Is it right?', 'Am I the so called aware citizen of India?', 'Am I exercising my right that somewhere is responsible for the management of nation?' It feels disgusted when even for a moment you get to go through this sort of questions running in your mind. When you say yourself to be an adult, educated, aware citizen of India and not voted yet in any of the elections, your intellect is questionable. But the fact to be noted is that there are certain situations and circumstances that are preventing you from exercising this right.
Has anyone ever given a second thought to it? Hardly anyone draws an attention towards those factors. But with an aim to curb this problem, Times of India (TOI), a leading English newspaper has come up with a petition named 'The Lost Vote' so that the votes can be made mobile. With this move, TOI is creating awareness regarding the importance of votes. Various students, working people who have migrated from their hometown for the purpose of study, job or any other purpose don't get the opportunity to vote in times of election as their names get registered in their hometown but they can't make their presence at the time of election because of the strictness of their work. These votes that are registered but not given are termed as 'Lost Vote'.
This initiative by TOI is all about finding the solution- technological and otherwise so that every eligible migrant voter is able to exercise their right to vote. It was recorded that in 2014 general election, 280 million people had a vote but didn't cast it which was about a third of the 834 million voters in India. What could be a bigger tragedy in a democracy? The data of 2011 said that approximately 454 million Indians were migrants. The census has not released age-wise data on migration but it gives a rough idea showing that of these 454 million, 46 million moved for jobs, 224 million almost all women because of marriage and over 4 million for business. Over 8 million migrated for education. That's actually tens of millions of lost votes. The question being put forward us is that when our mobile number, bank account can move with us, Aadhar number remains the same whether we live in Chennai or Mumbai, why don't our vote move with us as said to be our fundamental right.
Mainly the youth section of the society is getting exempted from this right. They are of the view that they live in a democracy without being a part of it. Amee Thaker, a 28 year old banker living in Mumbai says, “How can I criticise or applaud a party when I haven't played my role as a voter yet? When you see you can't participate in something that you could have been a part of too, it feels bad. For a long time, I have felt strongly about the need to digitise the voting mechanism for people like us who can't vote because of not being present there at the time of election.” Amee has never been able to participate in the electoral process because she left her home in Rajkot in 2011 to pursue her further studies. This is a major problem faced by the people residing in every corner of the nation. Getting the fingers inked is not the concern. The major concern is to even be a small part of that big decision.
“As a Kashmiri, one is exposed to politics from a very young age and most of us know how significant it is to cast our vote. But financial compulsions, the time it would take to travel and the effect it would have on our studies has kept us away from voting.” says Shafat-ul-Islambhat, a 25 year old Kashmiri student studying in Dehradun. He is of the view that it would be good if technology can provide a medium to vote. Geet Pahade, a 25 year old management student gives his view stating that a lost vote is not only about constitutional rights, but also about his aspirations.
“I wish there was an app or mechanism through which voting would have been easy from the place where we are.” SK Samim, a 23 year old restaurant worker lost his father when he was six years old and now he is the sole bread earner of his family. In order to earn, he has migrated to Kozhikode from a small village in Medinipur district of West Bengal. “Taking leave in the middle of the year turns difficult for me. Also I cannot afford the cost of travelling home just to cast my vote. I value my vote and I know it is the only time when our voices count. If every poll is intended to reveal the voice of the people, then all of us should get an opportunity to be heard through the ballot, no matter where we are” says Samim.
When digitalisation has been flapping its wings and no sector is left untouched, then why can't there be some arrangement on this work. We are facilitated with easy digital payment, digital banking, digital shopping, then why not digital voting? Why can't the fast moving technology be put to use for this work? In this busy world, TOI with this petition has provided us a medium to search answers for the questions in our mind. The government should either come with an app or something as such using the technology which could make it easy for the voters who have migrated out of their hometown and are unable to cast their vote. Some might be of the opinion that online voting mechanism would be risky and insecure. If it is so, even the postal ballot would be suitable.
It is the responsibility of the government to decide for the best, optimum and safe mechanism for voting, be it online or offline. The need of the hour is to save those votes that are on the verge of getting lost as millions of votes have already been lost. Although we are facing number of issues and difficulties but we have the weapon of casting vote to be able to decide who we want and who can solve the problems, then why not use it properly. Some are in fact using it judiciously and some are deprived of it. But if someone is taking the initiative to end this issue by raising voice, we should at least support them. We, as the aware and responsible citizen of India, should support ....., the profound media entity to make our vote mobile by signing this petition at www.lostvotes.com. This election, get your fingers inked, raise your head high and walk confidently because you are going to take an important decision by casting your precious vote.
