I think this new initiative by Gujarat's Narendra Modi is the way to go, if ample provisions for absentee balloting are made. This should certainly be the way to go for India. I especially like the idea of 'negative voting' where you indicate on the ballot that all of the above are equally despicable.
So, if your excuse is 'I hate my elected representative - and everyone else in the fray is a moron', then you can go and say it in the voting booth. I suspect this is never really the case - most wealthy people just don't care. Because the rich have other more powerful ways of influencing policy - which has nothing to do with voting, but everything to do with electoral financing.
Knowing Modi's track record, I cannot but be skeptical and think that he has his own axe to grind. Since it is fairly well known that he likes his cup of minority blood with dinner, I propose the following theories:
(1) He knows that minorities turn out and vote more because that's their only voice. So, if you force the silent majority to vote more, then their votes will drown out the minority vote. And Modi will be CM until he decides to be PM. Shrewd political move, because what he is doing is fundamentally democratic.
(2) If, for some reason, polling stations in minority areas start to malfunction and not report votes, then he secures an easy win. And also, he has an excuse to make minorities languish in jail, because they did not vote. ;)
1 comment:
Anon.
Deleting your comment, as I don't want my blog to become a profane dumping ground.
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