Chapter 5: Universal Franchise and India's Electoral System (Political Science)

Universal adult franchise means that every citizen aged 18 or above can vote, whatever their religion, caste, gender, wealth, education or occupation. It is important because:

• Equality: every vote has equal value. A labourer and a billionaire each have exactly one vote.
• Government by consent: the government is chosen by, and answerable to, all the people, not a small privileged group.
• Inclusion: women, the poor and marginalised groups get a voice. They can vote out those who ignore them.
• Accountability: leaders must keep the whole population in mind to win elections.
• Peaceful change: people can change governments through ballots instead of force.

India gave this right to all adults from its very first general election in 1951–52. This was a bold step at a time when many people could not read and some older democracies had given women the vote only recently.

It makes every adult citizen an equal participant, so the government rests on everyone's consent, includes women and marginalised groups, stays accountable, and can be changed peacefully.

A secret ballot means that a person's vote is cast in private, and no one (other voters, candidates, officials, employers or family) can find out whom they voted for.

It matters because:

• People can vote freely and fearlessly, without being threatened, pressured or punished.
• It prevents vote-buying: a bribe-giver cannot check how someone voted.
• It protects voters from employers, landlords, powerful groups and even family members.
• It keeps elections free and fair, so that results truly reflect the people's will.

The vote is cast privately and stays secret, so people can vote without fear, pressure or bribery, keeping elections free and fair.

Direct elections, where the voters themselves elect the representative:

• Members of the Lok Sabha (MPs)
• Members of State Legislative Assemblies (MLAs)
• Members of panchayats and municipal bodies (ward members, sarpanch in many states)

Indirect elections, where elected representatives choose the person:

• Members of the Rajya Sabha, elected by the MLAs of each state
• The President of India, elected by an electoral college of elected MPs and MLAs
• The Vice-President, elected by members of both Houses of Parliament
• Members of State Legislative Councils, where these exist, are partly elected indirectly

Direct: Lok Sabha, State Assemblies, panchayats and municipalities. Indirect: Rajya Sabha (by MLAs), President (by MPs and MLAs), Vice-President (by MPs).

Lok Sabha members are elected directly by the people in constituencies for 5 years; Rajya Sabha members are elected indirectly by MLAs (proportional representation) for 6 years, with one-third retiring every 2 years.

• Faster counting: results come in hours, not days.
• No invalid votes: pressing a button cannot spoil a vote. With paper ballots, unclear stamps were rejected.
• Harder to rig: EVMs register a limited number of votes per minute, which makes "booth capturing" and ballot stuffing difficult. VVPAT slips let voters check their vote.
• Saves paper and costs: no need to print and transport crores of ballot papers.
• Easy to use: voters who cannot read can recognise party symbols and press a button.
• Easy to carry to remote polling booths. EVMs run on batteries, not electricity.

Faster, accurate counting, no invalid votes, less rigging (with VVPAT checks), savings on paper and cost, and ease of use for all voters.

Possible reasons:

• Apathy and cynicism: a feeling that "my one vote won't change anything" or that all candidates are the same.
• Migration: many city residents are registered in their home towns, or are not registered at their new address.
• Busy lives: some treat polling day as a holiday or a chance to travel. Long queues and heat can also deter people.
• Names missing from voter lists, or a lack of information about polling booths.
• Less local connection in large cities than in villages.

Steps to encourage voting:

• Voter awareness drives (such as the Election Commission's SVEEP campaign) and social media reminders.
• Easy online registration and updating of addresses; checking names in advance.
• More, closer and comfortable polling booths, with shade, water, ramps, and model or women-only booths.
• Paid leave on polling day, and employers encouraging staff to vote.
• Schools and housing societies running campaigns, so that children remind their parents.

Reasons include apathy, migration, names missing from lists, and treating polling day as a holiday. Fixes: awareness drives, easy registration, convenient booths, paid leave, and community and student campaigns.

For centuries, Scheduled Castes faced untouchability and discrimination, and Scheduled Tribes were often isolated and exploited. Both were kept away from education, wealth and power. Left to open competition alone, they might have stayed poorly represented in Parliament for a long time.

So the Constitution reserves seats in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies for SCs and STs, roughly in proportion to their share of the population. At present, 84 Lok Sabha seats are reserved for SCs and 47 for STs.

In these constituencies, only SC or ST candidates can stand, but all voters in the constituency vote. This ensures that these communities have their own representatives to raise their concerns, take part in making laws, and gain confidence and dignity. It is a step towards real equality and social justice, not just equality on paper.

Reservation ensures that historically excluded SC and ST communities have a fair voice in Parliament (84 SC and 47 ST seats), helping to bring their concerns into law-making and moving towards real equality.

Benefits:

• Information reaches people quickly, and young voters are drawn in.
• Candidates can talk to voters directly and cheaply.
• Citizens can question leaders, fact-check claims and share their views.
• Campaigns for registration and voting reach millions.

Challenges:

• Fake news, deepfakes and rumours spread faster than corrections.
• Echo chambers show people only the opinions they already agree with.
• Hate speech and trolling can divide communities.
• Paid and targeted advertising, often hard to trace, can give an edge to those with more money.
• Leaked or misused personal data can be used to manipulate voters.

The future: elections will be increasingly digital, so we need strong fact-checking, rules on political ads and AI-made content, the Election Commission's code of conduct applied online, and above all digitally literate voters who check sources before believing or sharing.

So social media can strengthen democracy, but only if used responsibly.

It can widen participation and accountability, but fake news, deepfakes, echo chambers, hate speech and data misuse can confuse voters; digital literacy, fact-checking and clear rules will decide whether it strengthens democracy.

This is a research activity. For the constituency you choose, note down:

• the year, the constituency name and whether it is a reserved (SC or ST) seat;
• the number of registered voters and the turnout (%);
• the winning candidate and party, and the runner-up;
• the votes and vote share of each main candidate, and the margin of victory;
• the NOTA votes, if it was available.

Then compare: Was the turnout higher in the assembly or the parliamentary election? Did the same party win both? Was the margin large or close?

You can show your findings as a table and a bar chart of vote shares.

Record the turnout, winner, runner-up, vote shares, margin and NOTA votes for one Lok Sabha and one assembly election, then compare them (table and bar chart).