In India, I always thought that our voting turnouts were abysmally low. They actually vary a lot from place to place .. going from 30% to as high as 65% me thinks. The general average for urban turnouts has been somewhere in the late forties, sometimes around fifty. That means 50% of the people eleigible to vote actually get out there on their asses and do it. The rest don't. as simple as that. Of course in a system such as ours the voting register itself is archaic and horribly un-updated. What concerns me is that increasingly the younger generation (people my age - or our age if you prefer that) are shying away from voting. Anyways, I'm not here to discuss that.
While browsing the lush green meadows of BusinessWeek, I chanced upon the a paragraph about voter turnouts here in the US. The younger generation here is more or less aloof about politics in general. They were brought up in a secure world, which probably they feel; will not be harmed even if the politicians run amok (which is widely felt as true). Only 50% of eligible voters cast ballots in the Presidential election in 2000, down from 63% in 1960. Pathetic -- and even worse when you consider that roughly half the adult population doesn't even register, which means only 25% of voting-age Americans actually vote.
Posted by anya at February 7, 2004 01:57 PM | TrackBackYoung people in India shying away from voting? I'd say the opposite, but that's just my feel...
US statistics are horrible though.
On the other hand when the voter turnout in the Scandinavian countries fell below 70% [It's been in the 75-85% range for a long time..] they were worried that their democracy will collapse! [Don't have the links now, but read about it a while back on BBC or something...]
Gotta love the Dutch... :D
Posted by: Chinmay at February 7, 2004 03:59 PMI was excited when I turned 18 and went and registered and all that stuff..(Anya..u were there with me)
and actually when I went to cast my vote they say that u r not registered!!
Then after that initial set back I have not registered again :)
i know .. it was the same with me - i registered twice - and still my name didnt show up in the sacred list.
Posted by: aNYa at February 7, 2004 11:47 PM43% of statistics are made up on the spot :P
so why should busniess week be any different
I voted in the assembly elections in Delhi this year,still weild the ink on my index finger with pride.I personally feel that as an Indian that is the least u can do to be just that,an Indian...But hating politicians and politics is easy.The outgoing Chief Election Commisioner J.M Lyngdoh called them a cancer and who wudn't agree?
Posted by: mithunsachdeva at February 8, 2004 09:55 AMI know of people in their thirties proud to say they have never voted...indians n americans...political apathy is the in thinng u know...
Posted by: resh at February 8, 2004 10:07 AMApathy? In thing?
So it must like the fashion then... going up one decade and spiralling down in the next... I dont see that happening.
Increasing political apathy is the reflection of the quality of politics that's all.
Hey semantic overload .. 43% of statistics are made up on the spot - *including this one*. is it like that? :P
True, even I have heard ppl 'boast' abt not voting .. but not in an 'in thing' kind of way - but kinda like they are reassuring themselves that atleast they were not the ones who brought the current incumbent / govt into power. DUH.
Posted by: aNYa at February 8, 2004 04:31 PMYeah Anya!!!!!!!
Its a shame when people boast about not voting.Running from a responsibility is nothing to be proud of.In ne case,there is apathy ,but to me statistsics are like bikinis,what they reveal is important but what they conceal is vital...Me thinks ,There is more ignorance than apathy
well, not voting is not a thing to be proud of or to boast about, but the situation the Indian politics is in .....I don't think there is any importance left for voting ....I don't think that you shirk away from your responsibilities .....I am of opinion ...may be it doesn't appeal to others ...but I think voting (atleast in India) has become a joke. There is no point in voting for a murderer or for a corrupt person ...am not sayin everyone is a criminal or corrupt but therez really no way of knowing anythin abt a political person ..... other thing is people are changing parties so frequently ...so u are in a dilemma whether to vote for a particular party or for the person ....there have been cases when a person standing for consecutive elections has won from different parties ...which I think is ridiculuous .....
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also how precious is your vote in the context that almost half the votes have been bought by the politicians .....this is a fact ......the politicians just give money or some perks to the poor people to vote for them .....
so mebbe voting is a precious right .......but in todayz Indian political scenario I would prefer NOT to vote.................well I am not feeling proud abt this neither am I boasting ......but I would still say I havent voted even once (tho I had only one chance to do so) till now and I dont at least feel bad abt it ....god knows the person I vote for ..after winning goes after money ..changes parties and preaches exactly opposite of wot he used to do before